My First and Final Fantasy: Pilot
by Rayna Lissesul
Summary: Presents from family are supposed to entertain, not throw you into a journey you neither want or are prepared for. Rayne knew that games were evil... she just didn’t know how right she was until she played her first. Then, her whole life changed. Pre-Game
1. Prologue

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Prologue)

When Rayne first received the PlayStation II for her birthday, she wasn't exactly sure what to write in the 'thank you' letter to her aunt. Should it be 'Thank you for the mechanical brain-rotter'?, or how about 'Thanks for the stupid contraption I'll probably never use'?, or maybe even 'Thank you, you obviously put a lot of effort and thought into this when you sent your book loving, anti-television niece an imagination stealing device created by the 'Anti-Brain-Growth Company''?

In the end, she decided to go easy on her forgetful aunt and have her brother write something; he was far more thoughtful than she was when it came to these sorts of things. She also decided to store the offensive machine into the back of her closet and never think about it again.

Though her twin brother, Michael, had insisted upon the poor thing being tried out at least once, even if it was just by him with her watching, she had forcefully refused and buried her face into her book.

If you can't tell yet, readers, allow me to phrase the obvious into one concise sentence; Rayne hated any kind of storyline entertainment if it wasn't in the format of a book. This included TV, VHS, DVD, BluRay, computer, any kind of electric handheld device that processed games, and even board games that had been derived from any of the aforementioned.

Her parents had no clue where she had developed this concept from; her father was a computer game designer and her mother worked for a local broadcasting station. Her brother didn't understand, either, but he respected her and usually gave her very little static about it.

And, true to this fact, Michael said very little about the PlayStation after Rayne had shoved it into her closet and insisted that it was where it belonged. And so, her forlorn machine sat in the back of her closet for several months, soon forgotten and not missed. That is, it was forgotten until the fated event that led to the beginning of the writing of this story.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is **My First and Final Fantasy**.


	2. The First Game She Ever Played

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(The First Game She Ever Played)

It was the locks fault. If it hadn't gotten jammed, Rayne wouldn't have gotten so rough with the key. And if she hadn't gotten so rough with the key, it wouldn't have broken in the keyhole. And, if the key hadn't broken in the keyhole, then Rayne would be able to get into the library.

The whole point of the lock on the door to the family's personal library was to protect the books, both from the combined destructive force of her brother's dog, Rex, and her caustic cousins, and also from the house itself, which swallowed whole every misplaced item that had been left alone for far too long.

Unfortunately, instead of the lock on the door acting to protect the books beyond the door, it was now trapping them; holding them hostage in retaliation for Rayne's previous abuse to the key and itself.

This left poor Rayne bookless and bored. It was all the stupid locks fault.

When Michael came upon his sister sulking in the hallway, her long brown hair hiding her face, he couldn't help but smile. "Locked out of your sanctuary?"

Rayne's head shot up and she pinned him with a piercing stare, her icy blue eyes flashing angrily. "Michael, don't even start."

He raised his hands, "Hey, don't take it out on me. You're the one who insisted upon all books in the house being placed under lock and key." He then smirked and quirked a brow. "Or did you forget that?"

"Whatever," She grumbled lowly, most certainly not forgetting her demand. She stood and brushed her pants off, sighing dejectedly, "Could you just please get the phone and call the locksmith?" She was depressed, and really needed to get inside and read something.

Michael, though, only draped his arm over his twin's shoulder and gave her a sympathetic pat. "Sorry, sis, but it's Sunday. Nobody's open."

"What about the hinges? Can't we pry those off?"

"Door opens inward, sis, so the hinges are on the inside. And I don't think we have the right kind of screwdriver for the handle. And, before you even suggest it, the window is way too small and way too high up. Sorry, no books today."

Rayne sighed again and brushed off her brother's hand. When he walked down the hall and into the living room, she followed like an abandoned puppy, desperate for companionship. And, heck, if she couldn't get it from a book, she was going to make damn sure that she was going to get it from her brother.

When he plopped onto the sofa and turned on the TV, though, she settled for sitting beside him and staring off into space, blocking out all sound from the flickering box.

"I wish Dad were here, he'd be able to fix it."

Not looking away from the TV, Michael replied, "He's on a business trip. And besides, he wouldn't know a Phillip's head from a flat head, and he sure as hell wouldn't know about the inner workings of a door handle."

Blinking at her twin's response, Rayne muttered a depressed response and zoned out again, disturbed only when he looked at her and waved a hand in front of her face. "What's wrong, Rayne?"

She let out an aggravated moan and jumped to her feet, "I am bored out of my mind, that's what's wrong! I have no books, no school work seeing as it's summer, we live too far from town to walk there, and my only companions are my brother, who rots his brain out on TV all day, and a dog, who hates me because I don't let him chew my books into cud!"

Michael, who was used to her outbursts after eighteen years, was unfazed as he stated, "Well, you wouldn't be so bored if you would just watch the TV."

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" He didn't even blink as she ranted on, "Michael, you must be absolutely INSANE if you think that I would watch that… that…" He watched, vaguely amused, as she waved her arms in circles, trying to find a good word to describe the television with, but came up with nothing.

"Well then, dear sister," He began when he was sure that she had drawn a blank for words, "In light of your declaration, both said and unsaid, against watching TV, I would prefer that you didn't say anything else about being bored. You've brought this upon yourself."

He smirked when she stared at him, her jaw dropped, and then turned back to the TV, no longer interested in her ranting.

When she was done gawking, Rayne snapped her jaw shut and sat back down on the sofa, still refusing to look at the screen.

About an hour later, when Michael's program was on commercial, he stood and stretched, stealing a glance at his sister. She had her hair tucked behind her ears and was sitting cross-legged on the couch, facing the wall with her blue eyes dulled as she floated around in her thoughts and a small frown on her face.

Not liking to see his sister so down, Michael walked out of the room and down the hall, going to get something he thought would help.

Rayne didn't even notice him walk out, as she was mentally rereading one of the books she had memorized. She also didn't notice him walk back in with a white box and sit in front of the TV, opening it and removing the contents. After several minutes, Rayne had reached what she believed to be about page one hundred and fifty in the book when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

When she had snapped out of her reverie, she looked up to face her twin brother, who was smiling triumphantly. She quirked a brow, "Okay, you're obviously proud of something you did, so spill; what chaos have you wreaked?"

"Close you eyes and take my hand."

Rayne's quirked brow rose even higher, but she complied, closing both eyes and taking her brother's right hand in her left. He guided her off of the sofa and led her across what she assumed to be a good half of the room, where he stopped her and pushed her onto the ground.

"Alright, now take this," She felt him slide an oddly shaped piece of plastic into her hand and raised her other hand to grasp the other side, speaking as he went, "Right, now that you have that, we slip this into here," a faint and muffled click was heard, "and we open this and pop this into there," a pop, "and then we shut it," a faint click, "and then we hit this button right here."

A whirr, and then a loud sound that was obviously coming from the TV. Rayne's eyes snapped open and she found herself staring at the PlayStation logo. "NO!" She dropped the plastic, which turned out to be the controller, onto the ground and scooted away and stood. "I am NOT touching that!"

"Oh, come ON, Rayne! You said you were bored, and this will stop that! Games are fun!"

"NO, they only seem fun! It's only when you can no longer think for yourself or have a single creative thought that you realize the truth; THIS CRAP IS NOT FUN!"

As they continued to argue, the game ran through the opening scene three times before Michael picked up the controller again, accidentally hitting one of the buttons.

"Listen, Rayne, up until now, I've respected your hatred of various forms of entertainment, but enough is enough! You've never played a game before, so you really have no reason to hate them at all! You want something to do? Well, here is something! Now take the controller," he shoved it into her hands, making her press another button, "sit down," he shoved her onto the ground in front of the TV, "and play the damn game!"

Rayne was about to retaliate and throw the controller away again when a beautiful and depressing song started to play. She turned to the TV, where she saw the game had started playing, and saw seven very depressed looking people on the screen. Well… six people and one giant… blue… thing.

After a few seconds, one of the people, a blonde haired teen boy in weird yellow clothes, stood and walked away from the group, but not before pausing to place his hand on the shoulder of the girl who was sitting next to him. She had short brown hair and, when she looked at the teen's hand, Rayne noticed that one of her eyes was green and the other blue.

When the boy took his hand off of the girls shoulder, the scene faded back to the entire group, with the boy walking off to stand on a dirt mound. When he had reached the top, the scene focused back onto him, moving a bit sloppily as he looked off into the distance. Rayne was just taking note of the odd symbol on his necklace when a voice spoke over the music.

"_Listen to my story. This… may be our last chance."_


	3. Just A Game

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Just A Game)

"_Listen to my story. This… may be our last chance."_

Something about that statement, combined with the music and the depressed looks on the peoples faces, made Rayne's breath hitch in her chest. The screen then faded to a back view of the boy and revealed a city with several white things with rainbow tails floating upwards. Then, the screen faded to black, and the words 'Final Fantasy X' appeared in copperplate gothic font.

"Final Fantasy 'X'," Rayne heard her brother mutter, "What kind of a name for a game is that?"

"It's ten." Rayne replied without tearing her eyes from the screen, "'X' is the Roman numeral for ten. Final Fantasy Ten."

"Ah," was Michael's reply, "Well, I heard of the Final Fantasy games, and they're supposed to be good. They've got great battle operations, characters that actually develop as the game goes along, and some good story lines."

The screen flashed white and then focused in on a faded vision of a crowd of people, and Rayne studied it closely, "Hmm… Is this the game that Aunt Kala sent with the PlayStation?"

"Yeah," Michael flinched as Rayne made the boy character walk up to a group of girls and talk to them, "Why are their voices so pitchy? Is there something wrong with the disk?"

Still looking at the screen, Rayne shook her head, "No, I think that's how there supposed to sound. It's probably trying to make a point about…," she paused when the screen changed and the alphabet appeared, a black box towards the top of the screen displaying the characters default name, "about Tidus' life, or something."

Michael stared at the back of his sister's head, "You overanalyze stuff waaayy too much, sis. What kind of point would they try to make with that?"

She shrugged, "I dunno, maybe that it's annoying or… certain aspects are annoying, or… that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be…"

Michael shook his head, "Overanalyzing…" He then smirked as he watched his sister guide the character through across a long bridge, "Hey, I thought you were opposed to games. What's up, hmm?"

Rayne's thumb twitched and hit the 'Start' button on the controller, causing the game to pause. She looked at her brother, a slight blush on her face, "Well, um… Tidus said that this was his 'story', and um… I … like stories…"

She looked down as her brother's smile grew even wider, "Face it, sis, maybe you were wrong about what is and isn't good entertainment. Maybe books aren't everything."

Rayne frowned and made to drop the remote, but her brother was quick to say, "Or we could just say that this is a book, only in a different format, and you control some of the aspects. It's basically what it is, right?"

He twitched as Rayne bit her thumb and stared at the paused screen. "I suppose. It does appear to have a set story line, and there is dialogue…hmm…"

Michael breathed a sigh of relief when she picked the controller back up and hit the 'Start' button again, making the game continue. He was happy that he had finally found something to make his sister stop moping and do something that involved TV, and he didn't want to do anything to make her stop.

When she was fully into the swing of the game, he sat down and watched, impressed by the in-game graphics. When it came to the cut scene where Tidus was playing blitzball, he noticed his sister drop the controller and become glued to the screen. She gasped when the giant thing inside of the water ball shot the city, and even Michael clenched his hands when it looked like Tidus was going to fall to his death from the overhang.

As the game progressed a bit more, Rayne panicked when she was engaged in her first battle and accidentally pressed the X button, making the tutorial for attacking click off of the screen. Michael laughed when he noticed his sister realize that she had no clue what to do. She watched in horror as Tidus was repeatedly attacked by some creepy blue bugs, and jumped every time the character 'Auron' yelled a command.

She felt like Auron was yelling at her every time she messed up, and it wasn't long before Tidus' health was dangerously low. Fortunately, her random clicking found her the items menu, and she managed to figure out how to make Tidus use a Potion. Unfortunately, it was used on Auron instead, and the next attack from the blue bugs made Tidus drop onto the ground.

"Oh my God, I KILLED TIDUS!!!!"

Michael laughed out loud as his sister panicked. "Sis, make Auron use a 'Phoenix Down'."

Too scared to question, Rayne shakily did as her brother told her, and suddenly, Tidus was back in action.

"Gah! I FRIKKEN RESURECTED TIDUS! Oh my God, DOESN'T THAT MAKE HIM A ZOMBIE?!" She could have sworn that Auron rolled his eyes when she said that, but she brushed it off as her being jittery.

Michael, on the other hand, laughed again, unable to reply as his sister continued the battle in panic, suddenly afraid of the idea of making the main character a zombie in the first thirty minutes of the game. Well, she soon discovered that he wasn't a zombie, mainly because when the battle was over he still spoke coherently and he hadn't eaten Auron's brains.

When the characters ran passed a blue shiny thing, Rayne made them turn around and got a closer look at it. "What is that?"

When she pressed the X button, a tiny menu appeared on the screen with 'Save Game' and 'Cancel' in small but bold letters.

"It's a save point," Michael supplied, "Put the highlight bar over 'Save Game' and press X." When she had done this, a new menu appeared. "Alright, now choose the first memory card slot," she did, "And choose the first slot at the top to save the game."

When the little 'do not remove memory card' warning appeared, Rayne turned to her brother, "I didn't know there was a memory card."

He nodded and pointed to the small black rectangle sticking out of the PlayStation, "I put it in when you had your eyes closed. Just to be safe."

She nodded and turned back to the game when the little 'finished' ping sounded, and then stared at the saving screen blankly. Michael sighed, "Hit the O button a few times to get back to the game." She did, and her endeavor continued.

Michael watched both the TV and his sister as the game went on, amused by her slow learning, but impressed that she was actually trying. Though she was more enthralled when she just had to watch the non-playing scenes, both in-game and the cut scenes, she was actually making an effort to do well in the actual moving and combat part of the game.

After a few of hours, she had made it in and out of Besaid and was on her way to Kilika. It was just as she was engaged in battle with the Sin fin that their mother unlocked the door and walked in, arms full of groceries. When she heard the TV, she assumed that Michael was playing something, but was shocked when she looked and saw her daughter sitting in front of the screen.

She was so shocked, in fact, she screamed and dropped all of the bags. When Michael and Rayne heard this, they both jumped to their feet and ran over to her, pulling all of the bags off and almost yelling franticly.

"It's alright, kids, I'm fine. It's just," She looked at Rayne, stunned, "Were you playing a game? On the TV?"

Rayne froze and blushed, "Well… um…"

Michael picked up a few bags and laughed, "It's alright, Mom. The first line of the game was 'Listen to my story', and she's been hooked since."

Their mother looked at the TV screen in shock. "'Listen to my story'? Rayne," she looked at her daughter, "Do you like it?"

Rayne picked up a few bags and mumbled, "Well, um, I'm not too good at the actual fighting part, but I like the story so far."

Michael waved at his mom to stop questioning, and she did, afraid of chasing her daughter away. After they had the groceries put away, they all walked back into the living room, where Michael and Mom sat on the sofa and Rayne picked up the remote and continued the battle with the Sin fin. When it was over, another cut scene was shown.

The two on the couch watched as Rayne's hands tightened on the controller when Sin destroyed Kilika Port. "Sin…" she muttered under her breath.

Their mom looked at Michael with a raised brow, but he just shrugged, whispering, "She likes the story more than she lets on." They both then watched on in silence as Rayne continued to play. Soon though, it was dark, and their mother had prepared dinner.

"Rayne, honey," she called, "You need to save and come eat dinner, now."

Rayne didn't reply as the scene of Auron and Tidus becoming guardians before the Mi'ihen Highroad ended, and she guided Tidus up the stairs and to the save point. A bit reluctantly, she pressed the green button and turned the game off.

Dinner that evening was a silent event; Rayne was thinking about the game and her mother and brother were exchanging glances as they watched her. At one point, the silence was interrupted by Rayne telling her mother that they needed a locksmith to come and fix the door to the library, but silence then returned afterward.

Later that night, Rayne sat on the edge of her bed, thinking about what Auron had told Tidus after the attack on the blitz stadium.

"_Sin is Jecht."_

Not even Maester Seymour had creeped her out as much as that revelation had.

"The point of the game… of the story is to beat Sin. Tidus has to get to Sin in order to get back to his Zanarkand. But… Sin is his dad. No clue how that works out, but it's true… it's gotta be true. Auron doesn't seem like the type who would lie… why would he? He fought alongside both Jecht and Braska, and they were all friends." She buried her head in her hands and sighed. "That is so… messed up."

Alright, maybe she was getting too deep into this. It was just a game, after all, and there were nine others before it that must have had similarly disturbing plot revelations. Then again, Rayne got like this whenever she read books, too, so her reaction wasn't that out of the ordinary.

"Yeah," she muttered as she slipped under her comforter, "It's just like all of the other stories I've read. I'm just getting into the plot. It really is just a game."

Well, readers, had it been 'just a game', this little story wouldn't exist, would it?


	4. More Than A Dream

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(More Than A Dream)

When Rayne faded into her dream that night, something was out of the ordinary. Rayne had always been a 'lucid dreamer', meaning that she was always aware that she was dreaming when she was dreaming, and she sometimes had control over the actions of the dream. That night, though, instead of coming to in a field of pancakes or standing in an immense library where all of the pages of all of the books were blank, she woke to a white void.

The white stretched all around her, above her, and below her. She was actually surprised that she was standing. But, as soon as she thought that, she fell straight down into the white void, whatever solid mass that had existed beneath her gone. She screamed, the sound both muffled yet echoing.

Remembering her earlier action of making the ground disappear, Rayne wished that the ground were back, and then it was. She suddenly crashed back down onto the white 'ground', the wind knocked out of her body. She shakily got back to her feet and glanced around, still wheezing as she tried to make some reason out of nothing.

"Alright," she began, "This is just a dream, I know that. So I have control here, and I can make this place do whatever I want. Hmm…" She glanced around the void, trying to think of something simple to do to make herself more comfortable. "Let's see… I want a… rug, right beneath my feet."

She looked down and watched as color bled out from beneath her bare feet and spread out in a wide rainbow. Once the size was laid out, the colors began to rearrange themselves into a specific pattern and an image began to form. Eight different symbols in eight different colors were placed at even intervals around the now black rug, and Rayne herself was standing in a small white circle in the very center.

Rayne inspected the symbols from her position, not recognizing any of them. She crinkled her brow, "What in the he—"

Suddenly, all of the symbols began to pulsate, and the waves made Rayne drop to her knees and scream in shock. She clutched her head in her hands and waited for the throbbing to stop. It ended as abruptly as it had started, and when Rayne looked up she screamed again.

Standing before her were three people; a young man, an older man in mariner attire, and a woman dressed in what appeared to be religious robes. Rayne shakily stood and stumbled backwards, only to bump into someone else. She tilted her head back and stared into the hardened face of another man, who was glaring down at her but still holding her on her feet.

Rayne screamed again and stumbled away from the man, noticing a glint at his waist and nearly fainting when she saw he had a sword strapped to his side. Rayne walked unsteadily back to the center of the rug and spun herself in a circle, now noticing that she was surrounded by people on all sides. There were eleven people in all, but three females were all standing in one group while the rest stood by themselves.

"A-alright," she began, her voice pitchy, "Just-just who the hell are all of you, and what are you doing in my dream?"

Some of them looked at her sympathetically and a few of them laughed at her, but the man with the sword and the mariner just stared at her. Rayne spun around when one of them walked towards her, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw who it was.

"You-you're the boy from the game!"

The boy in purple nodded solemnly, "Yes, in your world, I am the boy from the game."

Rayne shook her head, "Alright, then, this really is just a dream. The rest of you," she gestured to the others around the circle, "must be characters, too. But…" her brow furrowed, "I don't recognize any of you, other than you." She looked back at the boy in purple pointedly.

"Actually," Rayne spun to face the young girl who spoke, "You have seen two others."

After looking over all of the people again, Rayne shook her head in confusion. "No, I'm pretty sure that I've only seen him." She raised a finger and pointed to the boy.

"Oh, how easily you humans forget." Rayne looked at the slightly older boy who was standing next to the girl. He crossed his hands over his chest and huffed, "You really don't remember either of us?"

When Rayne shook her head slowly, the boy frowned and the girl giggled and spoke, "Well, you might recognize us if you see us in our… more well known forms."

They both melted away and were replaced with two creatures Rayne was quite familiar with. "Valefor and Ifrit!"

Both of the aeons nodded and turned back into their human forms, the boy still frowning and the girl still giggling. Rayne stared at them in confusion, her arms held tightly to her stomach.

"Wait, if you're both the aeons Valefor and Ifrit, then the forms I'm seeing you in now are your original forms, back before you became the fayth, right?" When they both nodded, Rayne turned back to the boy in purple, "Then are you a fayth, too?"

The boy nodded, "Yes, we all are."

Rayne studied them all again and, when she looked at their feet, she noticed that each of them were standing on separate symbols, except for the group of three women, who were all standing on three separate symbols that were smaller than the rest and placed close together in the form of a triangle.

She then shook her head and turned back to the boy in purple, "Hold it, hold it, hold it. You're all the fayth, meaning that you're all aeons, but how can I be dreaming about you if I've never seen most of you? I mean, dreams may be crazy most of the time, but this is beyond crazy; it's impossible. I cannot be able to correctly imagine several fayth I've never seen before and then match them up to aeons."

The boy nodded, "True. Then, in light of all of that, what conclusion have you come to?"

Rayne hugged her stomach tighter and frowned, "That this is all a crazy fictitious dream and the fact that I have seen three of you before is pure coincidence when it comes to the other eight. This is just a dream."

"Maybe it's not."

"If it's not, then what is it?"

"A doorway to reality."

Rayne's frown turned into a scowl, "That game isn't real."

"Are you sure?"

She glared at him, causing him to chuckle.

"Alright, believe that if you want. But, even if it is 'just a game', you certainly can learn something from it, can't you?"

"Oh? And what could I possible learn from it, hmm?"

The boy smiled, his eyes hidden by his hood, "That it's time to wake up."

Rayne's eyes snapped open and she sat up, looking around herself in shock. She found herself sitting in the dark on a wide path, tall grass growing up on both sides and bits of old buildings jutting out here and there, all silhouetted by the light of the nearby city. Looking around wide eyed, it only took Rayne a few seconds to realize where she was, but she could hardly believe it. It just wasn't possible!

"The Mi'ihen Highroad…"

Yep, just as you expected readers; Rayne was in Spira.


	5. Welcome To Spira

Yay! People actually like it!

I would like to thank those who reviewed me (LeonFan2k3, nohaydeque, Triforce Guardian, Not Jack Frost), and I thank you for your opinions and constrictive criticism.

To nohaydeque; yes, I agree. Rayne is an… unorthodox name(to say the least), and I apologize to you because… well… if you keep reading this, you probably won't like how Rayne comes off. But I assure you, despite how she may seem in this Pilot, she comes off far better… at a later time (hinting at something yet not going to say anything just yet).

YES, RAYNE WILL MORE THAN LIKELY COME OFF AS A MARY-SUE (my greatest fear, realized. pardon me while I go out back and throw myself into the horse trough) BUT IT'S ONLY FOR THE PILOT. THINGS WILL CHANGE!!!!

…No anger meant in the above statement, just capitalized to give emphasis.

I apologize to anyone who does/will not like where this goes, but don't loose faith in me. And, if all else fails, I'll just post the entire story and move on to others I have waiting in line. Anyway, moving on…

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Welcome To Spira)

"This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening…" And on and on the chant went. After all, she was right, right? Rayne couldn't be in Spira; it was impossible right? Impossible, inconceivable, impractical, implausible, and remarkably incredible. This could not be happening!

And yet, somehow it was. When she could feel the cold of the night seeping into her legs, when she flicked the bug off of her arm when its many legs tickled her, and when she heard the cry of a nearby fiend that was so realistic, it chilled her to her bone marrow, part of Rayne accepted the truth. She really was in Spira.

But a part of her brain, the one part of herself that was desperately making its best efforts to try to repel the truth to keep her sane, refused to accept what her body knew. Her brain had told her to crawl into a dark corner and rock back and forth and chant 'This isn't happening' over and over again until it was true, something we all know wouldn't happen; things were and are still never that easy.

And yet another part of her brain, the part that dealt with tangible facts, was trying to convince the part that had taken over to stop it before it made Rayne hurt herself. Some of the message getting through, Rayne stopped rocking and mumbling and, instead, sat rigidly still, her muscles so taunt they were sore. She must have sat that way for hours, because it didn't seem like very long before the sun began to peek over the horizon.

Feeling damp, cold, and miserable, Rayne allowed herself to take solace in warmth of the rising sun and drifted off into a light, uncomfortable, and dreamless sleep. She was awoken quite abruptly by the fairly close sound of, what she assumed to be, battle. She could hear metal cutting through something thick, several shouts, and loud roars.

Not wanting to get caught in the middle, Rayne crawled on her hands and knees into the tall grass, hoping to get a glimpse of the battle and still stay out of sight. When the sound was closer than ever and she could see the end of the line of grass, she gingerly reached out and parted the blades and leaves, the fray revealed.

It was three men battling a group of savage dog-looking monsters. One of the men she recognized as Auron. He was noticeably younger, but with his red coat and large katana standing out as his signature items, she highly doubted it could be anyone else. But she wasn't quite sure who the other two were.

One of them was, to her shock, shirtless, with a pair of shorts that had a piece of red cloth hanging from the waist, and had a familiar symbol tattooed on his chest and was wielding a large, broad blade. He was the one making the most sound, both with his blade and with his shouting

The other was in rather odd robes, the cloth made in a sort of overlaying leaf pattern with three main colors of red, brown, and a lighter brown with a large metal plate around his chest and stomach. He was wielding what appeared to be a long staff with a sort of upside-down fan on the top. He was standing behind Auron and the other man, waving his staff and making green and white lights come out of it.

Rayne watched in awe as they fought the monsters, all three of them working in almost perfect sync with each other. She could tell that they had fought together several, if not many, times before.

None of them, though, seemed to notice the monster that was sneaking up behind the robed man. It was huge and had horns protruding from its back, and a huge maw that was now open and ready to bite down on the man. Rayne couldn't watch.

"Behind you!" She jumped out of the grass and picked up a large rock, throwing it with all of her strength as she ran forward. The rock sailed through the air and, by some work of miraculous luck, smacked the large monster right on the head.

The battle seemed to freeze as all eyes, both human and monster, fell on her. Rayne was frozen in place, caught in a running pose as her brain processed her actions. Oh, why on Earth… or Spira, had she chosen to throw that rock?!

All of the monsters roared and abandoned the three men, choosing to go after her instead. The large monster jumped over the three, startling them, and lunged forward, sailing passed the smaller monsters and diving at Rayne with its maw open. She fell onto the ground, her arms raised in a feeble defense, her eyes closed as she waited for the end…

That never came.

Rayne opened her eyes and blanched at the sight before her. The large fiend was caught in midair, its maw still open and its eyes rolling back inside of its head. Out of its chest protruded a black clawed hand, and a large black head was clamped onto the back of its neck. The monster suddenly erupted into what Rayne remembered to be pyreflies.

She looked in horror at the huge black creature before her as it dropped onto all four of its legs and brought its face close to hers, the huge multicolored wings on its back spreading wide. She started trembling as it opened its mouth as if to eat her, only to feel its rough tongue scrape across her forehead, much like a cat.

'Don't be scared.'

She looked the creature, which appeared to be a dragon, with wide eyes when she recognized the voice. "Is that…"

The dragon nodded and stood back up, turning to face the still present dog-monsters. Four sparking purplish-white lights shot from the dragon and hit the monsters, most of them exploding into pyreflies while the rest fled. The dragon then turned to her one final time and nodded slightly before taking off to the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

When Rayne looked back to the three men, she found that their eyes were still on her. She blanched again and got to her feet, staring at the men with wide eyes. She now recognized the other two men. The one with the tattoo was Jecht, so the man in the robes had to be Braska. Though it could hardly be considered possible, Rayne went even paler when she realized what their presence meant.

'I'm trapped in Spira ten years before the actual Final Fantasy X story line.'

With this thought in mind, Rayne did the only thing that seemed appropriate for that kind of revelation: she passed out.


	6. Lies, Lies, and More Lies

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Lies, Lies, and More Lies)

When Rayne's eyes snapped open again, she found herself still in Spira. It was dark out and she was wrapped tightly in a blanket, and considering she was still surrounded by tall grass, she assumed she was still on the Mi'ihen Highroad. But where had the blanket come from?

She moved to sit up, but stopped and clutched her head tightly when she was assaulted by a powerful headache

"Well, well, well, looks like sleeping beauty decided to wake up!"

Ignoring her headache, Rayne sat up abruptly and turned to face Jecht, who was sitting across from her and leaning casually against an old piece of building, a fire separating them.

"Hey, princess." He grinned roguishly, making her eyes widen.

"Jecht!" They both turned to the angry voice that came from the angry mouth on the angry face of an angry Auron, who was glaring at Jecht. "Enough."

Jecht rolled his eyes and growled, "Just having a little fun, grouchy. She knows I was just kidding, right?"

When he looked at her, Rayne began to stutter, her eye twitching, "Y-yes, of c-course."

He turned back to Auron, "See?"

Auron, though, didn't buy it, and snapped, "Quit screwing around, Jecht! And you," Rayne trembled when he turned to focus his steely eyes on her, "Who are you?"

When she opened her mouth to answer, all that came out was a strangled "Uhh", and then her mouth closed and her jaw locked, leaving her to stare hopelessly at the now glaring guardian.

"Auron, please refrain from frightening her too much." Rayne turned again to see Braska emerging from the grass beside Jecht. He turned to her and smiled, "Hello, miss. I am Braska, and this is Jecht," Jecht gave a small wave and wide smile, "and Auron." Auron just grunted, but Braska ignored him, "We do not mean you any harm, even though the way these two act may tell you otherwise. Who are you?"

"I—" Her voice hitched in her throat, but she pushed passed that by coughing lightly and continuing, "My name is Rayne."

Braska smiled, "Well, Miss Rayne, I'd like to thank you for saving me from that fiend earlier, and I'm also happy to see you well. I was afraid that Bahamut hadn't gotten to you in time."

"Bahamut? You mean the dragon?" Braska nodded.

"Yes. The dragon was the Bevellian fayth, the aeon Bahamut."

Rayne nodded, a bit surprised that the boy in purple was a huge and powerful dragon. 'He's also the reason I'm here. Stupid dragon-boy.'

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud bout of laughter, and everyone looked at Jecht as if he had gone mad. He only laughed harder and looked at Rayne, "I got a question for ya, Rayne. What in Spira were you thinking when you threw that rock at that fiend?"

"Uhh," Rayne scratched the back of her head and laughed nervously, "Hehe, I wasn't really thinking at all. I just… couldn't sit back at watch as Lord Braska was eaten. Um, is it alright if I ask a question?"

Jecht laughed again, "Ya just did, kid, but go ahead anyway."

"Uh… yes, well, we are on the Mi'ihen Highroad, correct?"

Jecht and Braska nodded while Auron remained stoic. Rayne ignore this and continued.

"How far are we from Luca?"

"Hmm," Braska looked back to the road, "If you were to start at daybreak tomorrow, and you take into consideration all of the possible fiend encounters, you could very well reach Luca by midday. And now, may I ask you a question, Miss Rayne?"

"If you would please stop calling me 'Miss', Lord Braska. It makes me… uncomfortable."

All of the men blinked at her response, but Braska and Jecht laughed anyway, Braska continuing his thought, "Very well, Rayne. But, back to my question, are you traveling the Highroad alone?"

Rayne only thought about her answer for a millisecond, her mind having already planned out the pros and cons of her answer.

"No, I was with my twin brother, Michael, but we were separated when a fiend attacked us. He was protecting me, you see, and I'm not very good at using any kind of weapon. While he was fighting the fiend in front of us, another came around the side. Michael told me to run, and I complied only so I wouldn't get in the way. I got lost running, and I haven't been able to find him since."

Fortunately, it looked like Braska bought her lie, and even if Jecht looked a bit suspicious and Auron wasn't convinced at all, Braska's opinion was the only one that mattered, seeing as he was the Summoner and his Guardians would follow him, no matter what.

"Do you think he would go to Luca?"

Rayne nodded to Braska, relieved he believed her. "Yeah, he said that if we were separated that we were both to head towards Luca, so he'll be there."

And that was where Rayne began to royally screw over her lie, because, of course, Michael wasn't going to be in Luca. Hell, he wasn't even in Spira. Of course, she didn't think ahead about the consequences of her actions until she heard Jecht say, "Well, if I'm right about where Braska is headed with this, then you're coming with us tomorrow, kid."

Braska turned and nodded to Jecht, and only Auron saw the look of horror on Rayne's face.

"With you…" Once again, no one but Auron noticed her, and he sighed heavily. She looked at him with wide eyes and he nodded, only succeeding in making her eyes grow wider.

"Um…" She glanced at Jecht and Braska, who appeared to be in a conversation about something, and then turned back to Auron, dropping her voice slightly, "If they ask, could you tell them I'll be back in a moment?"

He studied her for a moment before nodding and turning to look into the fire. Rayne looked at the three men one final time before she stood and walked out of the clearing and into the tall grass. She walked for quite a bit and soon the firelight had vanished and the voices had faded. Sure that she was alone, she spread her feet, braced herself, and screamed.

"BAHAMUT, GET DOWN HERE AND TAKE ME HOME RIGHT NOW!!!" When she received no reply, she continued, "THIS IS SO NOT FRIKKEN FUNNY, YOU… YOU… FAYTH!!! I HONESTLY DON'T GET WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO LEARN FROM GETTING EATEN BY FIENDS, BUT I SURE AS HELL AM GOING TO LEARN HOW TO USE SOME KIND OF WEAPON SO THAT THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU I CAN SHOVE IT UP YOUR—"

Sorry, but I gotta cut it off there, for the sake of not getting too vulgar. But, beyond that, I can tell you this; Rayne spent a good ten minutes swearing at the sky, hoping Bahamut would hear, and most of what she said was so scathing even the toughest of the nearby fiends ran in the opposite direction.

When she was done, her voice was scratchy and sore, and her leg and arm muscles were sore from all of the clenching she had done. She stood her ground and panted for ten minutes before turning back the way she came and walking back to the camp, smoothing out her hair and clothes.

Wait… her… clothes! She looked down at herself and turned three shades of red when she realized she was wearing her pajamas! Fortunately, it consisted of a baggy white t-shirt and a pair of loose blue pants and a pair of thick socks, but it definitely wasn't something she wanted to continue wearing while she walked around Luca. 'I'm going to have to remedy that… somehow…'

Sooner than she expected, she had gotten back to the camp and walked in silently, expecting all of the men to be asleep. So, as a result of her unpreparedness, she jumped a good three feet in the air when she heard a cough. She turned slowly to face the men, and sweatdropped when she saw all three of them sitting across the fire staring at her with raised brows.

"So, kid," Jecht began after a few moments, "Care to tell us who you were yelling at?"

"Uh hehe. You, um, heard… that?"

Braska shook his head, "I'm sure that there are people in Bevelle who heard that, Rayne. Though we aren't exactly sure what you said…"

Rayne nearly sighed with relief, but then began to stumble around for a plausible explanation. 'I saw a spider' wasn't acceptable, and she wasn't sure if she could pull off Tourette's, so she tried something else, building off of her already tangled lie.

"I…urm… I was mad… at my brother, for… being stupid enough to not… accept the help that some of the others back home offered when they heard that we were going… out of town on an… outing."

Now that time, not even Braska bought the lie. First off, she had paused one too many times. Second, she had looked everywhere but at them while she was thinking. Third, her right cheek had a rather amusing muscle spasm whenever she paused.

Rayne noticed the skepticism in their faces and, being unprepared to answer any of their ensuing questions, lay on her side of the fire and wrapped the blanket they had lent her around herself.

"Well, goodnight!" Her voice was almost a little too bright, but the men mumbled a hesitant response anyway and turned in, Auron agreeing to take the first watch in order to keep a scrutinizing eye on their temporary company.


	7. Chocobo!

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Chocobo?!)

Once again, Rayne woke to find herself in Spira, but she wasn't as disturbed by it as she thought she ought to be. Actually, she was really rather happy to have awoken in Spira on that particular day. When she had sat up and looked around, her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the rising sun.

As the sun peeked over the flat plain, its rays shone through the grass and gave it a golden hue. Everywhere that there was an old piece of city, light danced across their old and faded surfaces, almost acting to renew the color and restore it to its former glory. The most amazing part, though, was the sky. When she looked straight up, it was still dark purple, and slight hints of stars could be seen. But as she moved her gaze back to the horizon, the purple became lighter and lighter until it was sky blue. The area right around the sun, though, was a beautiful and striking blood red.

"Wow…" She breathed when the scene was fully washed over.

"Nice, isn't it?"

She snapped around to see Jecht staring at the scenery as well, standing and stretching out his sleepiness.

Rayne turned back to the scene and nodded, "Yeah. There aren't that many sceneries like this back home."

"And where exactly is 'home'?" Asked Braska, who had woken (along with Auron) when Jecht spoke and was now looking at Rayne with peaked curiosity.

Not in much of a lying mood, Rayne continued to stare at the sun and replied in a quite voice, "Far away from here, Lord Braska. Very far away."

She didn't see it, but all three of them exchanged glances and Jecht stared at her with a knowing look in his eye.

"Too far to get back to?"

Rayne closed her eyes and sighed, "I hope not."

An oppressing silence settled over the camp and was drug out through breakfast and when they packed up. When they stood at the edge of the road, Braska turned to Rayne and smiled.

"Alright, Rayne, we're heading to Luca. If we happen to get into any battles with any fiends, just stay behind us."

She shuffled her feet nervously, suddenly feeling the weight of herself as a liability, but nodded nonetheless, knowing from what little she already knew from the summoner that he wasn't going to allow her to do anything else. While Jecht and Auron warmed up for the battles that were fast approaching and Braska checked his healing and holy magic, Rayne took it upon herself to gather and carry the supplies, determined to do something useful.

When they were all ready and had double-checked the campsite for forgotten items, they set off on their merry way down the Highroad. Other than a few small fiends, they faced little opposition, and it was nearing high noon when they noticed that they were starting to see people wandering the road.

"We must be getting closer to Luca."

Rayne nodded slowly to whoever made the observation, a bit distracted by something she noticed in the tall grass a bit ahead of them.

"That means we'll be able to find your brother."

She nodded again, not really hearing, the something in the tall grass getting closer. It looked a bit like a big box…

"I've fallen madly in love with you."

She nodded again; taking note of the brown coloring that was now standing out from the box in the grass. It looked a bit like one of those things from the game; a treas… wait a minute!

"WHAT?!"

She stopped dead in her tracks, looking between the three men in front of her with wide eyes. Auron rolled his eyes, Braska chuckled and shook his head, and Jecht had broken out into wild gales of laughter.

"Kid, you are just too much! Honestly, you can make some of the greatest faces."

Rayne felt the heat rising onto her face as even Auron laughed a bit, and she quickly turned back to the grass to hide it.

"Sorry, I just saw something in the grass is all. It looks like a chest." Without waiting for their reactions, she walked off into the grass and towards the treasure chest. She returned a minute later to find that all three of the men had recovered and were patiently waiting for her. She raised a brow and looked at all of them. "Done laughing?"

Jecht nodded, coughing back another laugh, but Braska looked at the bag in her hand with interest. "What was in the chest?"

Rayne lifted the green velvet bag and shrugged her shoulders, its contents jingling a bit. "Coins, I think." She handed the bag to Auron, who pulled opened the red drawstring and reached inside, pulling out a handful of gold coins.

He dropped them back in and rattled the bag a little, "Probably about 4000 Gil." He threw the bag back to Rayne.

She stared at him oddly, then turned to Braska and held out the bag to him. He looked down at the offering and smiled, pushing back into her hands. "You found it, you keep it. Besides, you might want to use it for something."

Rayne looked at the bag a bit hesitantly, then, remembering her clothes crisis, shoved the bag into her pocket. The closer they got to Luca, the fewer fiends there were and the more nervous Rayne became. What was she going to do when they got there and there was no Michael in sight? She was so distracted by her worries that she hardly noticed the giant animal in front of her until she ran right into it.

She blinked rapidly when she found herself sitting on the ground, staring at a pair of huge scaly legs. There was a squeak, and when she raised her head she found herself staring at a feathered and beaked head, along with two huge blue eyes. Rayne had run right into a chocobo.

Braska ran forward to check on her, Jecht and Auron walking behind, and they all paused when they saw her trembling. The summoner knelt beside her and patted her shoulder, "Rayne?"

"It's… it's…"

There was a tense silence, broken by the chocobo's squawk when Rayne launched herself at it and wrapped her arms around its soft, fluffy neck.

"So cute!"

If it had been an anime rather than a game, everyone except Rayne (the chocobo included) would have preformed an anime fall. But, since it was a game, everyone except Rayne (the chocobo included again) stuck with face faulting.

"Um, can my chocobo have his neck back?"

Rayne looked at the male rider and a sweatdrop formed on her head. "Uh… yeah, sure. Sorry about that!" She then hastily jumped backward and lowered her eyes to the ground.

"Uh… no problem." And the rider and the chocobo were gone.

After another moment of silence, Rayne turned down the road and started walking, calling over her shoulder, "C'mon, boys! We're almost to Luca!"

Braska and Jecht exchanged glances, then shrugged and walked after her. Auron looked at the company, turned to catch one last glance at the chocobo before its rider steered it out of sight, and then back to the company again. He shook his head and chuckled, quickly reverting to his deadpanned face afterwards and walking after the group.


	8. Luca

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Luca)

They were there; they had made it to Luca. This being both Jecht's and Rayne's first time seeing it, they both stood at the base of the steps of the Highroad, leaning against the railing and looking out at the city in awe.

"It's so big!" Rayne murmured, eyes wide.

Jecht nodded. "Yeah. Hey, look! There's the blitzball stadium!"

"Wow, a real stadium. I gotta go see that later!"

"There probably isn't much to see there, kid."

Rayne threw her head back and looked at Jecht curiously. "Why not?"

Jecht laughed loudly and stood back from the railing, jerking his thumb to his chest and replying boisterously, "Because I ain't there, and I'm the best!"

Rayne quirked a brow. "Really?"

Jecht grinned. "You can bet all your chocobos I am! I could probably take an entire team of those losers down there single handedly!"

Rayne studied him with a dubious gaze. "I'm not sure if I should be impressed or skeptical…"

"Shouldn't you be looking for your brother, rather than worrying about blitzball?"

They both turned to face Auron, who had another of his steely gazes fixed on Rayne. She shut her mouth immediately and turned back around, pretending to be looking for someone who wasn't there.

"Jeez, Auron, don't be such a stick in the mud! She's just having a bit of fun, and—"

"Jecht!" Auron growled, taking a step toward his fellow guardian. "Have you forgotten that you're a guardian?! This is no time for fun and games, this is a serious matter! We need to get back onto the road!"

Braska, who had also been looking at the city, turned and frowned at his guardians. "Auron, Jecht, stop this. There's plenty of time for us to catch the boat to Kilika, so in the meantime, we'll help Rayne look for her brother."

Feeling guilty for both the fight and the devotion Braska was showing to find her nonexistent brother, Rayne put on a tight smile and turned to face the group. "It's alright, really. There aren't any fiends in Luca; just a lot of people. I was going to head into the city and find a tailor before I went to look for Michael, anyway. So… you all go ahead and get your supplies and head to the boats to Kilika. Thank you so much for everything."

She ran forward and shoved a bag into Auron's hands, then turned and ran towards the steps that led to the town. She paused at the top and waved to them. "Good luck! And thank you again!" She then ran down the steps and out of view.

Auron looked at the bag in his hand. It was different than the Gil bag she had found; this one was made of black velvet and had a purple drawstring. As the other two walked over, he pulled the bag open and poured its contents into his gloved hand.

"Are those…?"

Braska studied them closely, shaking his head as he pulled back and muttered, "It sure looks like they are…"

Jecht looked between the two in confusion. "What are they?"

Braska shook his head and poked the black stones, "They look like Dark Matter…"

Auron frowned, "But they can't be. Dark Matter is extremely rare, not to mention dangerous. How did she get a hold of a bag of it?"



True to her word, when Rayne made it into one of Luca's squares she began to immediately look around for a tailor. Luca was pleasantly warm, but it was a bit uncomfortable in a baggy shirt and sweats. Ignoring the odd looks she was receiving from people, she walked into a shop that had clothing on display and casually stepped up to the counter.

The girl standing at the register looked Rayne up and down with obvious disdain and drawled, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that this store doesn't sell discount."

Rayne felt the muscles in her jaw twitch and narrowed her eyes. She may have been insecure and quiet up until then, but she sure as hell wasn't going to take that.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," She began in a voice a bit more timid than usual, faking hesitance as she raised her bag of Gil and dropped it onto the counter, letting its contents spill out, "I wasn't aware that this shop sold items more expensive than this."

Now, Rayne may have been bad when it came to fighting in the game, understanding some concepts in the game, and been horrendously terrible when it came to playing blitzball, but she knew the Gil system, and the way she figured it, 1000 Gil could buy her at least seven simple outfits back home, and 4000 would be enough to get her respect from the greedy vendors here. And she was right.

The woman, who had been leaning against her hand, slipped and slammed her head on the counter. Rayne smirked when she sat back up and eyed the Gil with wide eyes. The woman looked at Rayne with even wider eyes.

"Now then," she flinched at Rayne's smug and condescending tone, "I came here for a new outfit. Can you think of anyone who might be able to help me?"



Rayne walked out from behind the screen and over to a mirror, spinning slowly to admire her new look. She was now wearing a long black skirt that had been slit up the sides and to her mid-thigh, the rest of it held together with crisscross leather stitching and a pair of knee length dark blue shorts underneath. Her top was also dark blue, short sleeved, and a slightly high neckline. The actual material of the top stopped half an inch above her navel, the rest of it woven black leather mesh that went on a bit passed the waistline of her skirt. Not wanting to get burned by the hot Spiran sun, she also had a custom jacket of deep blue that could easily be mistaken for black and went down to her knees.

She stole a quick glance at her bare feet before striding confidently back into the store and looking at a wall that was lined with shoes. The woman, who was now very eager to please, walked timidly over to Rayne to make a few suggestions (and rather pricy ones), but was quickly brushed off and put out.

When Rayne walked back with her selected shoes, she placed a pair of thick boots on the counter and locked the woman's demeaned stare with her steely one. "How much will all of this be?" She asked with as little interest as possible. She had made sure that her appearance was a Spiran as she could stand it, but also Spartan enough that she hadn't spent too much.

The abashed woman calculated that she was owed 1500 Gil, which Rayne slammed down onto the counter with as much indifference and spite as possible before she grabbed her old clothes and walked out of the store.

When she was out of sight of the shop, she turned down the nearest alley and leaned against the wall, breaking down into a fit of giggles. When she had woken up on the Highroad, she had been insanely frightened and scared, and she had felt that way the entire time she was with Braska, Auron and Jecht, mainly because they were all characters from a game.

But now she could see the truth; game or not, Spirans were human, and when you broke it down to the bare bones of it, all humans were the same. All Rayne really had to do was accept and remember this, and she could easily walk among the Spirans as if she were one of them. That vendor had proven it.

When she had calmed down, Rayne tied her Gil pouch to her shirt (why buy leather mesh if you aren't going to use it, eh?) and wrapped all of her old clothes into a bundle, using the legs of her sweats to tie it tightly. With her bundle clutched under her arm, she walked out of the alley and over to a bench, where she sat down her things and pulled a length of leftover tan leather string and began to attempt to braid her hair.

When I wrote 'attempt', did you somewhat get the feel that she wasn't doing a good job at it? If you did, bravo! If you didn't, I apologize for not making my meaning clear enough and allow me to restate it for you; she began to make a poor attempt to braid her hair. When it came to braiding, Rayne found it much easier to do if you weren't doing it to yourself.

She was still struggling with separating her thick brown hair when she felt a small tug on her sleeve. She looked beside her and saw a little blonde haired girl standing on the bench staring at her with wide green eyes. The girl gestured towards Rayne's hair and began mimicking a twisting motion, making Rayne blink in confusion. She then glanced at her hair and it hit her.

"Oh! You want to help?"

The girl nodded quickly and held out her hands, at which point Rayne turned around and let her hair fall across her back. She felt the girls small hands run through her hair and begin to deftly pull it into a somewhat tight braid. After a few moments, the girls hand peeked over Rayne's shoulder and she handed the girl the leather string, which the small hand took and disappeared with.

Soon Rayne felt her hair drop and felt a small thump as the braid landed heavily onto her back. She turned to the girl and smiled. "Thank you."

The girl grinned widely and jumped down from the bench, about to run off when Rayne reached out and grabbed her hand, slipping thirty Gil into it. When the girl looked back at Rayne with wide eyes, Rayne noticed that her pupils were swirled, but she brushed that off as a genetic mutation.

"Thank you." She repeated.

The girl looked at the Gil in her hand, then her head shot back up and her face bore a wide smile. "Dryhg oui. Yht oui'na famlusa!"

Rayne stared after the girl in confusion as she disappeared into the crowd, but shook her head and stood, turning in the direction of the blitzball stadium. She smiled when she heard the sounds of cheering drifting through the air.

"I think it's time for me to see how real blitzball is played."


	9. Drunken Luca Departure

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Drunken Luca Departure)

Rayne jumped out of her seat and screamed with all of the other cheering fans as the Besaid Aurochs made a goal. She knew that they weren't going to win, seeing as Wakka had said in the game dialogue that they hadn't won in the ten years he had been on the team, but when she saw his gravity defying orange hair out in the sphere pool, she couldn't help but sit and cheer them on. Besides, they were playing against the Goers, and she was most definitely not going to cheer for them.

She winced when she saw Wakka take a hard blow, but clapped encouragingly when he recovered and took off after the current ball holder. Taking a brief pause when halftime came around, Rayne ran to the edge of the stands and looked all around herself. Though the cut scenes of the stadium from the game had been superb, they had nothing against seeing it in person. Also, the game never mentioned the delicious wafts of Spiran food, which smelled decidedly spicier than real world food.

When the vendor had walked by, she had called out for whatever he suggested she try. He handed her a paper bowl of stringy plant-looking things covered in a thick, chunky sauce and a cup of fizzing purple liquid. After she paid him, she looked between the items with uncertainty and slight fear. One of the spectators behind her tapped her on the shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile accompanied by a thumbs up, which she translated to it tasted better than it looked.

She gave a strained smile in return, then turned back to her food and hesitantly picked up the plastic utensil that came with it. After a few attempts, she managed to get the food to stay on the oddly pronged thing and into her mouth. She was pleasantly surprised when she tasted something similar to pizza, but she definitely didn't want to know what the food was made from.

The drink, on the other hand, she never could have prepared for. She started by taking a small sip, but when she didn't taste anything she took a larger mouthful. For a moment, she still tasted nothing, despite the wet feeling in her mouth, and was somewhat disappointed. In a split second, though, her thoughts changed. There was a large fizzing pop in her mouth, followed by a sudden burst of flavor that sent her reeling into the back of her seat.

She quickly swallowed before she had a chance to dribble it all over herself, gasping for air when it had all gone down. She wasn't entirely sure what flavor it was, though. It seemed to shift between grape, strawberry, blueberry, apple, Mountain Dew, and Sierra Mist, but not in an unpleasant way. When she felt another tap on her shoulder, she turned to see the same spectator give her another thumbs up. She smiled widely and returned it, then quickly returned to take another gulp of her drink.

The break for halftime was soon over, and Rayne's drink was half empty. When the Aurochs scored another goal, she jumped to her feet and cheered louder than before, suddenly feeling buzzy and exhilarated. Even when the Aurochs lost in the end, she still stayed an extra three minutes to cheer them and boo the Goers.

After she was done with that, she was suddenly extremely bored with just sitting in the stands, so she jumped to her feet and stumbled down the stairs and out the double doors. Several people stared at her with disapproving looks as she stumbled across the walk and slammed into a pillar. Unaware of them, though, Rayne took a wide sweeping look around herself and found herself in a familiar place.

"Now," she slurred, "If I remember correctly, Dock 4 is iiinnnn…" She looked to her left, then to her right. "That direction!" Destination decided, she stumbled off, finger still pointing.



"Let's go, Jecht!" Auron called out impatiently to his fellow guardian. "The ship won't wait any longer!"

The ex-blitzer, who was standing at the edge of Dock 4 and staring at the crowds as they poured out the stadium, turned to glare at the ex-monk.

"Auron, you can't tell me that you aren't even a little concerned for her. She was obviously lying about her brother being here, even though Braska believes it, and she was obviously completely on her own. We found her in a shirt three sizes too big for her, sweatpants, and no shoes, for Yevon's sake! Besides, helping her is the right thing to do!"

Just as the two were about to launch into an argument, Braska walked over from the ships deck and stepped between them.

"What are you two arguing about now?"

Jecht stepped on Auron's foot before he could say anything and quickly replied, "I'm worried about the kid."

It took all of Auron's willpower to not punch Jecht and he hissed through gritted teeth, "She'll be fine!"

Braska frowned at the two and shook his head. "And what about her brother?"

At this, both guardians looked at each other before Auron grudgingly said, "I honestly don't believe that her brother is here in Luca, or that the story she fed us was true."

When Braska looked at Jecht, the guardian nodded, making the summoner sigh, "I had a sneaking suspicion that her story was a lie, as well."

Jecht threw a triumphant grin Auron's way, which was quickly quelled when the summoner continued, "But there is really nothing we can do for her. We are on a pilgrimage, and bringing her along would only put her in danger. Besides, she's already been set loose in Luca, we would never find her."

"Lord Braska!"

All three of the men turned and stared in wide eyed astonishment as Rayne stumbled onto the dock and over to the boat. When she saw all of them looking at her, she raised her hand and saluted them.

"Mi'lordship and his trusted and esteemed Guardians."

They all immediately noticed the slur of her words and her inability to stand up straight, one of them knowing better than the other two what was wrong with her.

"Kid, are you drunk?!"

Rayne's head flopped back and she gave Jecht an indignant glare. "In all of my… **I**, Sir Jecht, am most decidedly **not** drunk. I've never even tasted alcohol in all of my life, thank you very much!"

But, as soon as she finished speaking, she somehow managed to trip over air and fell forward, and would have busted her head on a crate had Auron not jumped off of the boat and grabbed her.

Jecht smacked his head, "Like hell you aren't drunk!"

"Hey!" The group looked to the cabin door of the ship, where the captain had stuck his head out and was glaring at them. "Are you going to Kilika or not? We have a schedule to maintain!"

Rayne giggled and saluted again, "Aye, aye, _Mon Capitane_!"

Braska turned and bowed to the now flustered captain, "Apologies. Yes, we are ready to depart." When the captain had ducked back into the cabin, Braska turned and waved to Auron. "Get on, and bring her with you."

The guardian sighed heavily, but gathered the drunken girl in his arms and walked onto the boat. Just as it had taken off, the first mate walked over and looked at the group. "She hasn't been paid for!"

This caused Rayne to grumble and reach for the pouch on her shirt, where she dug out a handful of coins and handed them to the shipmate. "This enough for ya, Sparky?"

The man, his lips drawn into a thin line, took the Gil and stormed into the cabin, but not before he glared at Auron and snapped, "Keep your girlfriend under control!"

Too shocked to say anything, Auron let the door slam without any form of retaliation. He looked down at the girl in his arms and realized that they did, in fact, look like they were in some form of relationship. He was holding her in his arms, her body tight against his, and her head was lying on his chest with her arms wrapped around his neck with an air of familiarity.

Auron's right eye twitched as he looked back up to his now chuckling companions and he growled, "Find me somewhere to put her before I drop her into the ocean."

Still grinning, Braska waved for Auron to follow him and led him up the stairs to the second deck, a laughing Jecht following close behind. Once at the top, Auron dropped his load beneath the umbrella and walked away to lean against the railing and glare at everyone he saw. Jecht yawned loudly and sat on the deck, also choosing to lean against the railing. Braska sighed at his companions and walked out into the sun, also also choosing to lean against the railing. Rayne looked between the three before crawling further beneath the umbrella and leaning against the pole.

Jecht looked at her and sighed, smiling slightly, "Alright kid, spill; where did you get alcohol?"

Rayne looked at him confusedly, then tilted her head back and stared at the umbrella. After a few moments, her eyes grew wide and she looked back at Jecht, still slurring but a bit more sober. "Oh my God, I really am drunk, aren't I?!"

Braska sighed, Auron rolled his eyes, and Jecht laughed.

"Kid, you're about as drunk as drunk gets!"

Rayne dropped her head into her hands and moaned, "That vendor at the game! The stupid purple stuff!"

"Come again, kid?"

Drawing her knees up to her chest, she moaned again. "I went to the blitzball game and got hungry, and when the vendor came and asked me what I wanted, I said whatever he suggested. He gave me this stringy stuff that tasted like pizza and some fizzy purple drink. Then everything got fuzzy and… and…" She paused and looked at Auron. "And you are really warm."

Auron scowled and looked away, blushing slightly, but Jecht and Braska were too busy laughing to notice, and Rayne was too busy being drunk.

When she momentarily sobered again, she held her head and groaned, "I'm gonna feel like crap tomorrow."



Later that night, when everyone had turned in, Rayne pulled herself off of her hammock and walked onto the deck. She had just walked over to the railing and was looking down at the reflection of the stars on the water when she heard someone walk up behind her.

"Odd, you usually find people looking up on a night like this."

She spun around and came to face a bent and wizened old man. His eyes were open and staring at her, but Rayne recognized the white film over them, her grandmother had been the same way. Sensing her shock, the man chuckled and raised his hands, palms up.

"I mean you no harm." He then walked over beside her and looked up to the sky.

"Um," he turned to face her, but she was a bit hesitant to ask. When he motioned for her to continue, she did. "How did you know I was looking down?"

He chuckled and replied, "When you get as old as I am, you don't really need your eyes anymore. You're far too in tune with the world around you."

"Ah."

Silence returned to the deck. Rayne was hoping it would stay, but it seemed like the old man had other ideas.

"Tell me, what brings you out onto the deck?"

She stole a glance at him, then her eyes returned to the water. "Nothing, really. I couldn't sleep."

"Any particular reason?"

She shook her head, but when she remembered his affliction, she said, "No."

"Hmm."

The silence returned again, but this time was cut off by Rayne.

"It's just…" She looked at the old man, who nodded, and she went on. "It's just, I've met some nice people."

"Yes, I've heard. A young summoner and his two guardians."

"Yeah, them. And, well, like I said, they're nice. They've been helping me quite a bit… Actually, a lot. I gave them a bag of… well, I gave them something that, to anyone else, would have returned the favor. But I don't feel like it has. And now I've gone and burdened them with my presence again, and I've no way of thanking them."

"Well, how would you like to thank them?"

After she thought about it, she haltingly replied, "Well, they're on a journey…"

"Ah, yes. The summoner's pilgrimage."

She nodded, "Yeah, they're on the pilgrimage. I want to… I want to help them with that, somehow… I know that I couldn't do much but…"

"You do know that the only way you could stay by them long enough to help them without being a burden is by becoming a guardian yourself, right?"

She sighed heavily, "Yeah. Which is why I couldn't sleep. I have no way to repay them."

"Well, if you could, would you become a guardian?"

Rayne turned to look at the man, shocked, "But, I couldn't…"

"True, true, not in your current state. But, if you could gain the powers of a guardian, would you become one?"

Turning back to the ocean, Rayne closed her eyes and whispered, "Yes…"

"Then," the old man grabbed her chin and tilted her face towards the sky, "All you need is someone to show you the way."

When she opened her eyes again, Rayne was staring at the starlit sky, and she noticed something.

"Yes, that's it, look closer."

One of the stars looked impossibly closer than the others.

"No, it's not impossible. It is closer."

It was so close; in fact, she could very well have reached out and touched it.

"Then do it."

Her body moving of its own accord, her hand reached out and grabbed the star, and a warm sensation spread throughout her body, lulling her to sleep.

"Then sleep."

So she did.


	10. The World of a Black Mage and Arguments

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(The World of a Black Mage and Arguments)

The next morning did not greet Rayne with a hangover, like she feared it would, but rather with the sound of running boots and worried voices. She opened her eyes to find herself back on her hammock, but the rest of the room was empty. Just as she sat up to look around, she heard three sets of feet run passed the porthole by her head and heard Braska talking to someone.

"It's coming in on the right side! Guardians, get ready!"

"Right."

"Right!"

She was about to bang on the wall and ask what was happening when the ship suddenly pitched to the left and she was thrown off her bed and into the wall.

"It's coming!" Someone shouted.

Ignoring the pain that was now growing in the back of her head, Rayne scrambled to her feet and ran out of the bunk room and towards the deck. The sight that met her wasn't a pretty one. Huge grey tentacles were draped across the deck and a huge throbbing mass was stuck to the starboard railing.

"Young lady, come back here right now!" Rayne turned to face the passengers, all of whom were huddled in the back. "There is a summoner and his guardians up there dealing with it; don't get in the way!"

'It's alright.' Another voice said, this time in the back of her head. 'You have power now; it's time to learn to use it.' Rayne recognized the voice as that of the old man's.

She smiled and nodded to the passenger who had yelled at her, calmly saying, "I know who's up there, and I'm going to help them."

"Then take this!" A blue vial was thrown at her and smacked her in the side of the head. "Sorry!"

"Oh, and this!" A bottle of green powder was thrown.

"And this!" A bottle of purple liquid.

"And a couple of these!" A bundle of red feathers tied to a container of red liquid.

Rayne struggled to catch all of the offerings, succeeding in catching only two while the rest hit her in various places all over her body.

"And you just might need this later. Thanks for your help!" She nearly blacked out when a heavy red bag of Gil hit her temple.

"Jeez, are you all trying to kill me?!"

She quickly emptied the Gil into her old bag and stuffed the offerings into the new one, tying it beside the old.

"Well, I'm off!" As she stumbled onto the deck, she heard a chorus of cheers before the double doors were slammed shut and the heavy locks were thrown into place. "Gee, thanks for the encouragement."

"Look out!"

She turned and screamed as one of the heavy tentacles came flying at her. Before it could hit her, though, a heavy katana sliced through it, cutting the appendage off and spraying rust-colored blood everywhere. She looked up to her savior only to reel backwards when she was slapped by Auron's angry glare.

"What are you doing here?" She couldn't hide her flinch at the bite in his words.

"Um, I came to help?"

He flipped around and swung his sword at another tentacle, then turned back to her and pointed to the bridge. "Then 'help' by going in there until this is over. 'Help' by staying out of the way!"

She bit her lip as he turned and walked back into the sea of flailing tentacles, slicing through them one by one with his sword.

'Never mind him,' She heard the old man's voice say, 'You can do this. You can help.'

"How?" She muttered as she dove to dodge a tentacle. "What can I do?"

'Start by helping the person behind you.'

Rayne turned and blanched when she saw Jecht's body laying haphazardly on the deck. He was covered in gashes, all of them bleeding profusely, and he was extremely pale. He looked like he was…

'He almost is, but not quite. You can still help him. Just use a Phoenix Down.'

"How do I do that? Do I even have one?"

'The tuft of red feathers with the red vial tied to it.'

With shaky hands, Rayne reached into the red bag and pulled out the soft red feathers, kneeling down by the guardian with them clutched tightly in her fist.

"Now what?"

'Pull out a single feather and dab a little of the red liquid on it. Then, press it onto his body. Stand back and watch the rest.'

Doing as she was told, Rayne sat back and watched as the gooey feather glowed in a brilliant gold light and melted into Jecht's skin. Not even a second later, his eyes snapped open and he jumped to his feet, grabbing his sword from behind him and slicing through the nearest part of the fiend. Most of his more serious injuries had disappeared, though a few scratches still remained, but he looked pumped and ready to fight.

He turned and grinned to the shocked girl. "Thanks, kid. Now, go hide somewhere until this is over." Not waiting for a reaction, he ran passed her and jumped into the fight.

'Good work. Now, go up to the second deck.'

"Why? The fiend's down here."

'You don't need to be in a close range, just close enough. Besides, you don't want to be standing right in front of it if you can't get it right the first time.'

She nodded and scrambled to her feet, ducking a few more tentacles as she ran up the stairs. Once at the top, she looked around for the three men and found them all standing by the main part of the fiend, the huge throbbing mass. She watched in awe as they hacked and slashed at it, all of them working in almost perfect harmony, just like before.

'Now, close your eyes and search for the power inside of yourself.'

"And how am I supposed to know when I've found it?!"

'Peace. You'll know when.'

Unsure, Rayne closed her eyes and downed out all distractions, focusing only on her body and mind. She drifted around for a bit, not entirely certain what she was looking for. Suddenly, though, she did run across something. It was something in her mind; something that she had previously thought was a memory. It had been a picture of a dim grey orb on a black background, but now it was glowing silver and pulsating. She knew immediately it wasn't a memory.

'Correct, it is not a memory, but rather a psychological manifestation of your inner power. And it's awake.'

As she hesitantly poked the orb, the pulsations grew erratic and it glowed brighter. Frightened, she pulled back.

'No, don't run from it. Stay close to it until it calms down. It has to adjust to being awake and active after sleeping for so long.'

Obeying the old man's voice, Rayne stayed with the picture of the pulsing orb. Soon, the pulsations had calmed down and smoothed out, but the glowing stayed brighter. She reached out for it again and this time it stayed calm.

'Good. Now, open your eyes and use your inner power, but keep the image of the orb close.'

Rayne opened her eyes and looked at the octopus-fiend. It was bleeding its rust-colored blood from various gashes and several of its tentacles were missing, but the summoner's party was injured and tiring, as well. Keeping the image of the silver orb in her mind, Rayne focused on the main body of the fiend, a single word rising to her lips.

"Thunder."

The sky darkened and a single bright bolt of lightning shot down and struck the mass, making it shrivel. All of the remaining tentacles and the stubs curled back in on themselves and, seeing the opportunity, the guardians leapt forward and struck the fiend one final time before it fell from the side of the boat and dropped into the sea, its blood staining the surface a metallic brown.

Suddenly exhausted, Rayne dropped to the ground and watched between the railings as the passengers poured out of the hull and ran to the group, congratulating, thanking, and showering them with gifts. She smiled, happy to have been able to do something, happy to have the power to help.

'Welcome to the world of the Black Mage.'



She heard voices around her. They were familiar voices. They were talking about her.

"Are you sure?" Auron.

"Who else could have done it?" Jecht.

"I'll admit, I am a bit surprised." Braska.

"Yeah, me too." Jecht again.

"Where did she get this power?" Auron again.

"What makes you think she hasn't always had it?" Jecht.

"If she had always had it, she wouldn't have thrown the rock when we first met her." Braska.

"She also wouldn't have passed out unless she had never used it before. You need serious training to use black magic, and it exerts a heavy toll on the body." Auron.

"Since when has she had any time for serious training?" Jecht.

"She hasn't, which is why Auron believes that someone gave her the power." Braska.

"Is that possible?" Jecht.

"It would take a powerful magic user all of their strength to pass their powers onto another. It would kill them." Braska.

"So, do you think—"

"Quiet, she's waking up." Auron cut Jecht off.

Coming back to the world of consciousness, Rayne groaned and rolled over, slitting one eye open. She saw Braska sitting beside her, Jecht standing beside him, and Auron leaning against the wall a ways away, all of them staring at her.

"Welcome back." Braska said, a smile on his face.

"I feel like crap." She muttered in response, not thinking.

Jecht chuckled and shook his head, "Well, yesterday was an exciting day, wasn't it?"

"Yesterday?"

"Yep," Jecht nodded, "You were out all day yesterday and all last night after you used that 'Thunder' spell."

"'Thunder'?" There was a slight bzzt and a spark crackled in the air in front of her eyes, making them grow wide.

There was a collective sharp intake of breath and Braska looked at her, blinking, "So it was you…"

Nodding slowly, Rayne pulled herself into a sitting position, "Yeah, it was." She winced and grabbed the back of her head, the memory of slamming into the wall flashing before her eyes.

A brief 'Cure' was muttered, and the pain went away. She looked at Braska, poking the back of her head gingerly before dropping her hand, bowing slightly, "Thank you."

He nodded, but then paused. "How long have you been able to do it?"

Rayne's hands clenched and her jaw muscles tightened, "Yesterday was …the first time I actually… used it…"

Braska nodded slowly, forehead creased as he thought. "Have you any idea why? Have you ever trained before?"

She shook her head, shifting her eyes away from his, and looked around the room. "We aren't on the S.S. _Winno_…"

"We're in Kilika Port. Got here yesterday." Jecht filled in.

Rayne blinked and turned back to Braska, "Have you been to the Temple?"

"No," Auron's voice sliced through the air, his eyes piercing hers when she turned to face him, "We've been waiting for you to wake up."

It looked like Braska was about to interject and Jecht was about to snap, but Rayne beat them both to it, "What in the hell is your problem?!"

They all watched wide-eyed as she jumped to her feet and stormed passed Braska, planting her feet in front of Auron and looking up at him, her eyes actually conveying anger towards him, "Ever since you first met me, you have shown me nothing but annoyance and animosity, and why? Is it because you think I'm spineless? a pushover? a pathetic weak person who needs someone to hold her hand? Well let me tell you something; these last few days have been HELL for me! When you found me, I was scared out of my wits, and all you managed to do was glare me to hell and back for getting in your way! And, despite that, I still tried my best to help you, but guess what? You always shoved it back in my face in the rudest way you could possibly imagine! You know what, in light of your charismatic attitude, I honestly wish that Bahamut hadn't saved me, then I could have died! Oh, but wait, I would have gotten in your way even then, right?! Because then, Braska would have had to perform a sending for me, and that definitely would have taken away from your precious time, wouldn't it?! Well guess what; don't bother! I'm off! For good! See ya later, and I hope you have a lovely day!"

That being said, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, grabbing her coat and bags from several hooks and slamming the door when she was out.



The three men stared at the door with wide eyes, surprised by the outburst that the usually timid Rayne had just let out.

"Well," Jecht began slowly, shifting his eyes in Auron's direction, "She kinda did have a point…"

But the guardian didn't say a word; he just stared at the door with a blank look on his face.


	11. A True Guardian

Okay, just as a warning, there are certain (and probably a few too frequent) situations where Rayne's mage skills seem… more than they should be. But, I swear, there is a reason for this! Please, just trust me.

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(A True Guardian)

When she had stormed out of the inn, Rayne took a right turn and walked for a bit before heading toward a thatched hut that had a 'Shop' sign hanging from the arch of the entrance. She marched up to the counter and dropped her coin bag on the counter, startling the old woman behind the register.

"Sorry, but could you count how much is there? I'm too angry to see straight right now, much less count."

The elder woman nodded and opened the green bag, pouring its contents onto the counter, "Boy problems, I take it?"

Rayne sighed loudly and shook her head, "Is it that obvious?"

The woman chuckled as she pushed the coins around, "Yes, well, I saw you come of the S.S. _Winno_, unconscious, in that young mans arms yesterday, so I figured as much."

Rayne looked at the woman in confusion, "Which one?"

"Oh," The woman remarked casually, "The one in the red coat."

"Ugh, him?!"

"Hehe, yes. He did seem like a tough nut, that one."

"How could you tell?" Rayne asked dryly, though she could already guess.

"His face." Score one for Rayne. "When he wasn't looking at you, he had such a stern expression. It almost made him look older than me."

They both laughed at this, but something the woman had said caught Rayne's attention.

"Wait, when he wasn't looking at me? Pray tell, whatever was his expression when he was looking at me?" Though she could already name a few: anger, disgust, loathing, etc.

The woman watched the shadows cross the girls face and replied, "Probably not what you're thinking."

"Oh?" Rayne raised a cynical brow.

"Yes, 'oh'. He actually looked fairly concerned."

Rayne stared at the woman, who was still counting, and slowly asked, "Concerned? Are we talking about the same man, here? Red coat and a stern expression, yes. But a concerned look on his face? Now that couldn't be him."

The woman stopped her counting and looked at the ceiling, "What else was there, now? Hmm, a rather large sword strapped to his back, traveling in a company with two other men, one another swordsman and the other a summoner, and I believe that they called him 'Auron'." She looked at the shocked expression on Rayne's face and smiled before turning back to her counting, "Ringing any bells?"

"But… but it couldn't be him. Auron hates me, and can barely stand to be around me. He couldn't possibly be concerned for me. You must have been mistaken."

The elderly woman sighed and stopped counting, pushing all of the Gil back into the bag. "Young lady, there is no mistake in these old eyes. There was nothing but concern in that young man's eyes for you when he carried you off of that boat and into the inn."

"But… he's always talking as if I am constantly in the way, and…"

The woman rolled her eyes and smiled, "That's typical for a man like him. He's the 'lone wolf' type, who's always trying to push those he cares for out of harms way, no matter how he does it. It's not that you're in the way, it's that he wants to handle his problems on his own, without you getting hurt because of him."

Rayne looked at the woman with wide eyes and backed away, shaking her head slowly, "Alright, you said 'care' close to two times in that spiel, and that is soo not Auron, and soo not how Auron would ever feel for me."

The woman smiled coyly, "Just like there is no mistake in my eyes, there is no fooling them, either."

Rayne's eyes widened even more and she coughed, "Uh, yes… well. How much is in there?"

The old woman quickly dropped to her default 'kind old lady' mode and said, "There's 7500 Gil here, sweetie. Would you like to buy anything?"

Rayne stumbled back and quickly looked around the shop, eying the various weapons on the wall. "Okay, I'm a Black Mage… I think. So, what would you suggest?"

Well, the stuffed animals like Lulu had didn't work; they all came to life and tried to attack her when she came near. Maces didn't go over too well, either; way to heavy. Staves were too light, lances were too long, and she couldn't very well buy a summoners staff without then being mistaken for a summoner.

"You know," Rayne panted after she had looked at well over half of the shops magical merchandise, "Maybe I don't need a weapon. I can use magic well enough without one, can't I?"

"Oh, but dear," The woman panted beside her, "What about melee attacks? You'll eventually run out of magic, and you'll be forced to do melee. What then? Your fists? I hate to say it, but magic users aren't characteristically strong with their melee against fiends, even when they have a weapon. And if you didn't have one, you'd be a sitting duck! No, it's best to get a weapon."

Rayne groaned and leaned back, ticking off her fingers as she spoke. "Well, what do you have that's not a sword, not a ball, is like a stave, but heavier, is like a mace, but lighter, is like a lance, but shorter, and is like a summoners staff, but not for summoners?"

The woman seemed to think about that for a minute, then stood straight and walked behind the counter. Rayne followed and raised a brow when the woman pulled a long black box out from beneath the counter. She slipped a key out of her sleeve and placed it into the lock, the latches on both ends of the box snapping open. When she opened the box, Rayne stepped closer to get a better look.

In the box, nestled in fitted black velvet, was a staff. The pole was blue and had silver filament that snaked out of the silver butt of the pole and wound its way up to the top, gradually thinning towards the center and thickening again towards the top. At the top, where the threads were thickest, they joined in two strips on opposing sides and arched out, curving back towards the pole in fine tips. The full arch of these two strips was about six inches long, and their outer edges were filed into two fine bladed wedges. At the very top, nestled into the hole the two silver strips made, was a fiery ruby, held in place by five curved points and surrounded by fine Celtic style ornamental opal-colored filigree.

Rayne looked at the staff with wide eyes, nearly having a heart attack when the old woman told her to pick it up.

"Are you crazy?! I would tarnish that thing the second my hand touched the casing, not to mention what would happen if I actually touched the pole, itself!"

The woman laughed, "It's alright. The maker was a master who knew a bit of useful magic. It's impossible to break any part of it, and the only way you could smear it is if you didn't clean the blood off of it after you struck a fiend."

A bit hesitantly, Rayne used both hands to lift the pole out of the casing. She took a few steps back and turned to the side, holding the staff vertically in front of her. The cool metal beneath her fingers soothed her nerves and before she knew it, she was twisting the pole around herself, moving similar to the way Yuna would dance when she preformed the sending in that very port in ten years.

When she had stopped moving, she was facing the counter again and the ruby at the top of the pole was glowing blood red. The old woman behind the counter began to tear up, and she muttered, "In all my years, I never thought I would see that staff reach the hand of its rightful owner…"

Rayne watched the woman silently for a moment before asking, "Who made this?"

Wiping her eyes, the old woman replied, "My husband. He moved on to the Farplane twenty years ago, and I promised him that his last and greatest creation would make it to its true owner, a young Black Mage. I've been waiting for you for twenty long years, my dear. Thank you for finally coming."

Rayne watched at the crying old woman with wide eyes when a thought hit her, "Was your husband, by any chance, blind?"

The woman nodded, "Yes, in the final years of his life, he was struck blind while he was battling a Sinspawn."

"As a Black Mage, himself?"

The woman nodded again.

"And you're completely sure he's dead."

Confused, the woman nodded again. "Yes, dear, I am. True, there was no proper sending for him, but his pyreflies never formed a fiend, so I believe he passed on. Is something wrong?"

Rayne shook her head, muttering, "No, nothing at all…" She then looked back to the skillfully made staff in her hands. "How much do I owe you?"

A horrified looked crossed the woman's face and she ran out from behind the counter, grabbing the girl's arm tightly and shaking her head rapidly, "Oh, dear, nothing at all! This staff was made for you and you alone; I couldn't possibly price such an item."

Now it was Rayne's turn to be horrified, "But I couldn't possibly accept this without some form of payment!"

"Dear, seeing the staff reach your hands is payment enough! If you insist, though, think of it as… a birthday present, or something. But please, don't ask for Gil to be exchanged for it!"

"Birthday…"

The woman nodded, "Yes, a birthday present. Tell me, dear, when is your birthday? Then we can label it early or late, depending."

"Um… actually… I believe it's today…"

The woman smiled, "Well, then, Hap—"

"The Ochu!"

They both stopped and looked at the blanket that acted as a door, the cry having come from the other side.

"The Ochu is attacking Lord Braska's summoning party!"

The woman felt Rayne tense and saw her eyes widen with worry, so she ran back behind the counter and began throwing items onto the black case. Seeing what she was doing, Rayne walked slowly over to the counter, watching as blue and purple vials were stacked, along with bottles of green powder and several bundles of Phoenix Down.

"Dearie, take these and go help your friends. Just head back to the inn, turn left, then right, and run straight into the woods. Now, look here," she pointed to a blue vial, "These are Potions for health," she pointed to the purple, "These are Antidotes, for any poison," she pointed to the green powder, "These are Ethers, for restoring magic," lastly, she pointed to the Phoenix Down, "And these are—"

"Phoenix Down, right." Rayne nodded, grabbing the items and shoving them into her bag. She soon ran out of room, though.

"Here, have another."

Rayne grabbed the sky blue bag and pulled open the navy drawstring, shoving the rest of the items in and quickly tying the bag to the leather mesh of her shirt. She then pulled out a handful of coins and slammed it onto the counter, cutting the old woman off before she could protest.

"At least let me pay for these."

The woman stared at her for a moment before nodding, then lifted part of the velvet casing inside of the staff's carrier and pulled out a leather object. "The sleeve, dearie. It's the sheath for the staff."

Rayne slipped her jacket off and strapped the sleeve to her back, slipping the staff in before throwing her jacket on again.

She then turned to the door and lifted the blanket, but paused and looked back at the woman. "Not really the time, I know, but how do I look?" She spun in a circle and placed her hands on her hips.

The woman looked her over and smiled, "Like a true Guardian."

Rayne returned the smile, "Thank you." She turned back to the entrance and ran out, the coins in her purse and the items in her bags jingling softly like bells.

The woman walked to the entrance and pulled the blanket aside, watching her as she ran to the forest. "Like a true Guardian."


	12. The Ochu, The Upstage, and The Training

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(The Ochu, The Upstage, and The Training)

By the time Rayne got to the forest, she was excited and ready for battle. She remembered fighting the Lord Ochu from the game, and she remembered being terrible at it. But she was determined to make this time different. This time, she was actually charging into battle knowing the Ochu's weakness; fire. And this time, it was something she could personally control. And, most importantly, this time she had something to prove; that she wasn't a liability.

When she saw the blue orb she remembered as being a save point, she was a tad confused as to its presence, seeing as she didn't have a memory card. But, when she touched it, she felt all of the exhaustion she had built up from running flee her body. She felt rejuvenated. So rejuvenated, in fact, she grinned widely and tore her staff out of the sleeve, spinning it around a few times. She hadn't noticed until then how perfectly balanced it felt, or that it was just a few inches shorter than her, making it the perfect length. It really had been made for her.

She heard a roar tear through the trees, making her face turn serious as she ran deeper into the forest, leaping over any obstacles that crossed her path, sprinting on branches over rivers like they were bridges, and dodging all fiends that leapt at her as if she had been fighting her entire life.

When she had reached the actual fight, she skid to a halt and fell down beside the man in the back. He wasn't anyone she knew, but she recognized him to be a Crusader by his uniform and sword. He was watching the summoner's party fight the Lord Ochu with a look of horror on his face, giving no regards to his wounds.

"Soldier," he jumped and looked at Rayne fearfully, not relaxing even when he saw she wasn't a fiend. Rayne dug into her pouch and handed him a blue vial, "Take this and go back to town. It's dangerous here."

He nodded slowly, standing and limping away as he opened the Potion and rubbed some of the liquid on his larger wounds before drinking the rest. When he was out of sight, Rayne got back to her feet and turned to the men and the fiend, regarding them with a false look of skepticism on her face.

"You boys having fun?"

They stopped and turned to look at her before another of the Lord Ochu's planty appendages swung at their heads, forcing them to turn back and dodge.

"Kid, what are you doing here?!"

She put her hands on her hip and snootily replied, "Not helping, that's for sure." She could have laughed at the game she was playing, but kept her face clear of all humor and continued to watch.

"We can see that!"

She raised a brow and let the smallest smirk cross her face, "Oh? What's this? Do you actually want my help, Auron? Because that's what it sounds like."

"As if you could." He growled through gritted teeth as he fought off one of the green tentacles. When he managed to throw it off, it shot passed him and headed straight for Rayne, "No!"

The other two stopped with him and turned to see the bodily damage she had sustained, but their eyes widened in shock when they saw her holding off the tentacle with a staff.

She grinned, "Ya like? It's new." Charging the staff with a bit of 'Fire' magic, Rayne threw her body forward and sent the tentacle spiraling back, its spiny tip burying itself into the Ochu's body, making it screech in pain.

Tossing her head back, Rayne strutted forward and walked passed the trio of now ogling men. "Do you boys know what the Lord Ochu is?"

Jecht raised a brow and looked at the wailing monster, "A fiend."

"Ah," Rayne paused and raised one hand, turning back and smiling, "But what kind of fiend?"

When she received no response, she turned her back to them and loudly stated, "A plant fiend."

Moment of silence, followed by Jecht speaking again "Yeah, so what's your point?"

Rayne sighed and shook her head, turning to face the men with her hands on her hips. "And what do plants hate?"

"Uh…" The three men exchanged glances.

Sighing again, Rayne slapped her forehead. "Do I have to spell everything out for you? Ugh, fine. Plants hate," She paused dramatically, and from the looks of horror on the men's faces, she could tell the Lord Ochu was on the rebound.

"Uh, kid, ya might wanna—"

"Not just yet, Sir Jecht. Plants hate…" She paused and waited, closing her eyes and listening. When she heard the whirring sound she was expecting, she spun around and slashed her staff in a wide right to left arc, screaming, "Fire!"

Her attack landed right inside of the liquid pool in the Ochu's head, making the fluid burst into quick and wild flames that rapidly consumed the fiend's entire body. When she was sure the flames had reached their peak, Rayne turned slowly and deliberately back towards the trio, chin tilted downward, face blank and her mouth opened slightly.

When she was absolutely sure she had their attention, she lifted her head and said, "That is how you take care of an Ochu." To her sick delight and inner worry, she saw that Auron was 'Poisoned', a slash on his arm puffy and purple, and his face taking a green tint. Spinning her staff once, Rayne deftly sheathed it and reached down with her unoccupied hand, pulling out a purple Antidote vial and throwing it to him. "You look like you need this."

He reached up and caught it just as she turned and walked off, striding straight through the smoldering ashes of the Ochu. "If you want to reach the Temple, take the right turn. The straight path has been blocked for some time."

She heard Jecht call after her, "I thought that you weren't going to help."

"I wasn't," She called back without turning around, "The Ochu was in my way."

Braska called out, "If the straight path is blocked, why are you taking it?"

She paused, then turned and smiled, "Training."

She turned away again and walked into the dappled forest, knowing that soon the odd lighting and faint haze would make her vanish from sight.



As she did, indeed, vanish from sight in the dappled light and haze of the forest, Jecht let out a laugh, making the summoner and other guardian turn to stare at him.

Jecht saw this and explained, "She's really adjusting fast, isn't she? We were here fighting that thing for twenty minutes, barely wounding it, and she comes in makes it explode like a Bomb. She showed us up!" He laughed again.

Seeing the faint humor in that, Braska laughed a bit, as well. Auron, on the other hand just stared at the spot he had last seen her at, the Antidote clutched tightly in his hand.

"Hey, Auron!" He turned to face Jecht, who grinned again, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she showed us up to prove a point to you. You agree?"

Auron narrowed his eyes and grunted, walking away and wincing with every step he took. With a loud laugh, Jecht walked passed him, Braska passing him not long after. When they were far away enough, Auron grudgingly opened the Antidote vial and downed the bitter liquid, an image of her flashing through his mind, making him squeeze the vial until it broke when he was finished.



Had anyone come down the path she was on, they would have thought her insane. When she had turned the corner that she remembered leading to another treasure chest, Rayne broke down into a fit of giggles. She, literally, dropped down onto her knees, covered her mouth with one hand, her stomach with the other, hunched over, and fell into seemingly endless streams of eye watering giggles.

She could tell that her deliberate tough act had affected the men, even if they recognized it as an act later. Truthfully, she had been afraid that her timing would be off, and it was only sheer luck that the Ochu had attacked with its tentacle, rather than use one of its poisonous skills. But it hadn't; and her timing had been perfect.

Her eyes had been silted when she had twirled, so she saw the looks of shock on their faces, and she could have sworn that she even saw a bit of …well… something else in Auron's eyes. Was it regret? envy? appreciation? guilt? She wasn't sure, and it didn't matter, because it was there; she had seen it; she had proven herself, at least somewhat, to that bonehead. When her fit was over, Rayne got back to her feet and continued down her dead-end path, still giggling once or twice every now and then.

When she reached the end she found the chest, like she had expected, but she had found something she hadn't expected inside. It was a stone tablet, about as big as a CD case, with grooved concentric circles, some connected with straight groves, and dappled with little engraved domes. She saw that, towards the center, four of them had already been filled out, small purple balls in them outlined with silver. She flipped it over onto the back and saw that several words and numbers had been etched into it in silver.

Flipping it back over, she studied it closely, soon realizing what it was. It was a Sphere Grid. She looked back into the chest and saw other items; an ash colored velvet bag with a black drawstring, several small glowing spheres and a long piece of rolled up paper. She put the Sphere Grid back into the chest and pulled out the piece of paper, unrolled it and read it:

To Whoever Finds This:

If you are a Black Mage, have no clue what this is (or just don't have one), Congratulations, you are now the proud owner of your very own Sphere Grid!

If you are a Black Mage, but already have one of your own, please put this back so a Black Mage that doesn't can have it.

If you aren't even a Black Mage, you suck! Put this back so the REAL backbone of the fighting force can find this and use it to their hearts desires!

Anyway, if you're still reading, that means you're a new up and coming Black Mage, and you're definitely going to want this by your side. Now, whenever you beat fiends in battle, they almost always drop small colored spheres (and if they don't, they suck). In order to gain power, you have to take these spheres and place them into the little dome-shaped groves.

But hold it right there, Sparky! You'll notice that, when this Sphere Grid has imprinted you as its owner, one area in particular will shine brighter than the others. This means that that is where you are currently at on your way to power. In order to be able to use spheres on this Grid, your location has to be near an empty Sphere Node, or the area where the spheres you earn go. Following me so far? Good!

Now, let me tell you about compatibility, and not the romantic relationship type. If you join up with others in a party and the 'you' space is located near a line that leads off of your Grid, no fear! Just place your Grid near someone else's, and you can transfer their grid information onto yours (and vise versa). This way you can attain different levels of power that usually aren't available to you. Oh, but are you worried, now? What if you hadn't finished working out on your previous Grid?! Once again, No Fear! Just make the 'you' space backtrack to where you previously entered the new section of the grid and hop off of it, and it will transfer you right back over to your original Grid! Hurray!

But, I'm not done just yet! Now that you've used one particular line to cross over to someone else's Grid, you can't use that same line to skip over to someone else's, you dig? Taking this into mind, you'll notice that there are a limited number of cross-over lines (only seven), so pick your cross-overs carefully!! There are hundreds all over Spira, so look before you leap!!

Another thing, every now and then you'll run across smaller versions of the Sphere Grid. These are special Grids with special abilities, and they are usually quite rare and powerful abilities. But, are you worried about using your cross-over points? No Fear! Using these little guys doesn't cost any of you cross-over lines, it makes more! You just place the smaller one next to your original and the two will temporarily meld together, allowing you to store a copy of the new Grid onto your original. A new line will appear, showing you that the transfer was a success. You can then allow your fellow party members to use it or, if you're on your own, pass it on to someone else! But, please, keep in mind that everyone in Spira deserves a fighting chance to find these little rare Grids, so when you're done with them hide them in a good place or pass them on to someone else. And don't forget, just like everyone else in Spira will be looking for these, so will you, so play fair!!

One final thing; sometimes when using the Sphere Grid, you'll run across a Sphere Node where there will be the letters 'Lv.' followed by a number (1-4). You'll notice that when you reach these, the 'you' space won't be able to move over the groove that these Nodes are guarding. These require the Level Spheres that you might find after beating a particularly hard fiend. In order to properly unlock these areas, you have to have the correspondingly numbered Level Sphere to unlock the Level Sphere Node, otherwise you won't be able to move on to that area. It sucks, I know, but that's how this game of power is played.

Well, that's about all I fell like explaining. If you happen to run across something I didn't go over (which you probably will), then ask someone who also has a Sphere Grid (preferably longer than you have). Trust me, they'll know. This system has been around for a long time, so there are probably very few secrets left to it.

Oh, and one last and final thing:

GOOD LUCK!!!

A Fellow Sphere Grid User

(P.S. I left you a few spheres and a little baggie to get yourself started with.)

(P.S.S. I thought this letter would be pretty boring without a cliché, so be warned that this message will self-destruct as soon as you read the following word.)

(P.S.S.S. BOOM!!!!)

Rayne screamed and threw the letter into the river, watching with wide eyes as it did, indeed, self-destruct, making a small boom and burning in a matter of seconds, only ash touching the surface of the water. 'That person was insane…' She jumped three feet into the air when she heard a mocking laugh echo through the woods, looking around quickly but finding no one. 'Or is insane…'

A bit hesitantly, Rayne picked up the Sphere Grid and looked it over, talking only a few minutes to figure that the thing already had imprinted her as its owner, meaning the stats on the back were hers… Man! Did her strength SUCK! Hmm… she was going to have to steal Auron's Grid and remedy that…

Speaking of Auron, the trio should probably be out of the Temple soon, if they already weren't, so she decided she had better get to training!


	13. Take Me With You!

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

("Take Me With You!")

And she was right. Just as she had won her third engagement and was bending over to pick up the Grid spheres she had won, Braska and his two guardians rounded the corner. Braska smiled and waved to her, a gesture which she returned, and Jecht was shaking his head. She ignored Auron.

"'Sup, Jecht?"

He laughed and shook his head, "What in Spira are you doing collecting Grid spheres? You don't even have a Grid!"

Rayne sniffed and whipped out her Grid, walking over to the blitzer to wave it in his face. "Read it and weep, blitzer! It's legit and it's imprinted to me!"

He smiled, "Really?" He then snatched it out of her hand and flipped it over to the stat side, holding her down with one hand as he looked it over. "Haha! Just look at that strength stat! It's pathetic!"

She huffed and kicked his inner thigh, grabbing the Grid before it fell to the ground. "Whatever. My magic is probably twice what yours is!"

As Jecht limped away, clutching his thigh, Braska walked forward and held out his hand. "May I?" When she handed it to him, his eyes quickly widened as he scanned her stats. "You're right! Your magic is impressively high, even if your strength is low. Several of your other stats are a tad higher than usual, as well. And I'm convinced enough to say that you might just make a good guardian, someday."

Rayne smiled widely and accepted the tablet when he handed it back to her. "You think?!"

"What, you want to be a guardian?"

Rayne turned to regard Auron coolly, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

"Is that something your 'brother' instilled into you?"

Noting the sarcasm in his voice, Rayne clenched her hands tightly, "What? Not able to insult me about being weak anymore, so now you're going to question whether or not I have a family?!"

"Auron, compose yourself!" Braska said in a tone slightly higher than usual. Auron just grunted and turned away. Noticing that her hands were still clenched, Braska put a hand on Rayne's shoulder and spoke quietly, "No one doubts the existence of your family, Rayne. We just… were less than convinced by the story you told us when we met you on the Highroad."

Rayne clenched her jaw and turned away, "As if you'd believe the truth."

"Try us, kid."

Turning to glare at Jecht, Rayne snapped, "What's the point if you guys are just going to continue the pilgrimage and leave me behind?! Why bother burdening you even further? I'm already in the way now, so why lay you with my sorrows?!"

"C'mon kid, stop! This is childish!"

"Maybe I still want to be a child! Did you know that I turned nineteen today? Did you know that a weapon was and will be my only birthday present? Back home, giving weapons to nineteen-year-olds for their birthday for the intention of use is considered creepy to some people. But here, it's creepy if they never receive a weapon before that! This world is so damn backwater, it makes me ill sometimes! Only children seem truly happy here, and sometimes even they're faking! If I have to lie and act like a child to be happy, then what's the problem with that?! So what if my brother wasn't in Luca; even I got to pretend like he was, and saying it made me a little happy. If I can lie the whole time I'm here to avoid the truth of what happened to me, then why not?! At least it gives me happiness!"

"Kid, I'm not from this Spira, either." Rayne froze and stared at Jecht, who sighed and continued. "I'm from Zanarkand, and not the ruins that people here say they are. I'm from a Zanarkand that existed a thousand years ago. Sin, the very thing that still plagues Spira today, was in my Zanarkand a thousand years ago and transported me here, making me leave behind my wife and kid. If that isn't unbelievable, but the truth, then I don't know what is. You think that you got a weirder story? Try me!"

Rayne walked backwards until she bumped into a tree, then clutched her stomach and bent over, looking at the ground. "I'm not from Spira, period. I'm from a planet called Earth, an entirely different world. We know about Spira there, but… well, that's about it. I was brought here by… something even I don't understand. Back home, I was considered weird because of some of my beliefs, and I was picked on a lot for it when I was younger because of it. The only real friend I had was my twin brother, Michael, and even he considered me weird, but… at least he tried to understand, which is less than my parents tried to do. When I woke up here, I was so scared, and I still am. I know some things, but it really isn't enough. I… I'll admit, I've been following you guys because I'm afraid to be alone here. When I was drunk, I remember thinking that I didn't want you guys to leave me, so I went to the S.S. _Winno_, knowing that you guys would be leaving for Kilika from there, and hoping I could convince you to take me with you. I guess things… worked out… though oddly. But, now, there really is not other reason to keep following you, no excuse. I've told you my reason, and I know that I can help you on the pilgrimage… somehow, and I know I can defend myself, so please, please don't leave me alone!"

Still clutching her stomach, Rayne dropped onto the ground, silently crying. Not quite the way she had imagined doing it, but it was done. Her cards were laid out on the table, now she just had to wait for them to make their move. The worst thing that they could do was laugh in her face and mock her, while the second worst thing would be to just walk away and leave her. But, seeing as she didn't read Braska as that type of person, she let her tears spill down her cheeks and waited in silence.

"So, you want to be a guardian, but not mine…"

"Not necessarily. I wouldn't say no if you asked, and I would still want to go even if you didn't… But yeah, I suppose I could enjoy being a guardian, someday…"

"Do you even know what being a guardian entails?"

"Not really, other than protect the summoner at all costs until they reach Zanarkand."

"… You say you're from another world… can you prove it?"

"What, the odd clothes, lost look in my eye, my inability to come up with a good lie as to why I was on the Highroad, and the fact that I want to stay with all of you, even if it's not as a guardian, weren't enough? Before I learned otherwise, I was convinced that using a Phoenix Down on someone made them a zombie."

A strained laugh, then, "What would you do if I said no?"

She thought about it, "Probably follow you anyways…"

A sigh, followed by a long pause.

"Rayne, I'm going to have to talk with Jecht and Auron. Will you please wait here?"

Rayne clutched her stomach tighter, all feeling leaving her hands, and nodded.

After a brief moment, she heard three pairs of shoes pad away, and she began to know what it would have felt like if they had just walked away… it actually felt better than the apprehension did.

When Braska motioned for his guardians to stop, they spent a good five minutes just staring at her. She was several feet away, though out of earshot, and she was still sitting on the ground, her braid having come out earlier and her long, and now wavy, brown tresses covered her face completely.

Auron spoke first, "There has never been someone who was on a pilgrimage to just… tag along. There are guardians and summoners; that is all. It's against Yevon's teachings to do otherwise."

Jecht scowled, "Oh, come ON Auron! The kid is stuck in a different world than the one she was born and grew up in. She's completely lost! We can't just leave her! Screw Yevon!"

"Fool! You honestly believe her?!" Auron snapped.

"Of course I do! I know, better than anyone, what she's going through, and I heard the truth in her voice. I even suspected it from the beginning!"

"You imbecilic—"

"Stop it, the both of you!" Braska interjected. "Now, while I agree that we can't just leave her, I also agree that it would be unwise to take her as a tagalong. It would be both immoral to Yevon and unsafe for her."

"So, Braska, what do you think we should do?" Asked Jecht.

Braska shook his head and looked back at her, "I'm not sure just yet… I don't want to leave her here, though…"

"So?" Auron asked.

Braska sighed and was silent, thinking. Finally, he said, "We'll take her to Besaid with us. I'll have decided by then. If it's no, we'll leave her in Luca, I have friends there. If it's something other than no, then…" Braska shook his head and walked away, leaving his guardians hanging.

What, other than no, could the answer be?

Braska had already gone ahead and told Rayne that he would have his decision by the time they reached Besaid and was currently talking to her about Bevelle and the aeons, leaving Auron and Jecht brining up the rear. Looking at his companion and friend, Jecht decided to take this opportunity to tease him.

"Hey, Auron."

"Hmm."

Jecht smiled to himself, "You remember when that guy on the ship thought that Rayne was your girlfriend?"

Auron's face darkened and he scowled, "I'd rather forget it."

"Sure. You didn't exactly object, you know."

"I was too shocked and disgusted!"

"What ticks you off so much about her, anyway?"

"She's too emotional…"

"Yeah, well, a lot of girls are like that."

"She's too dependant."

"That's probably what happens when your only friend is your twin brother. Besides, brothers have a habit of protecting their sisters, and a brother who is a twin and a best friend… well… that's like a protective brother times three."

"She's too naive."

"So what? A few weeks in the real world can change that, easy!"

"She's a burden."

"And she's working her ass of to make sure that she can change that! What else ya got?"

"…"

Jecht looked at Auron, "Nothing else?"

"Hmm."

"See? Now that you've gone over everything about her that ticks you off, she's not that bad, is she?"

"…"

Jecht sighed, "Auron, there are married spouses that could name off more things that tick them off about their significant other than you just did!"

Auron growled at the analogy, "Spouses who can name off more things than that have been together longer. They've witnessed a side of their significant other then no one else has."

"So, you saying want to hang around her longer to find more things that tick you off?"

"Jecht!"

Jecht took a step back and held out his hands in mock surrender. "I'm just saying, that is one of the foundations of building a relationship; being with the person longer!"

Auron glared at his friend and growled, "Jecht, I'm warning you."

Jecht laughed, "Alright, alright, I'll stop. But before I leave, let me leave you with a parting thought."

Auron waited, dreading what it could be, but willing to listen to get Jecht off of his back.

Jecht grinned widely, knowing his friend was going to hate him for this.

"You can't deny that feeling her soft body pressed against yours felt so good and soo right."

Jecht ran away, leaving a beet red Auron frozen in place behind him.

"**JECHT**!!!"

A ways ahead, Rayne and Braska heard the cry of the rampaging Auron and moved out of the way just in time for Jecht to shoot passed, laughing insanely, with Auron following him not long after, his sword drawn and charging after the blitzer full speed, his face still beet red.

Rayne glanced at Braska casually, "Was he 'Breserked'?"

Braska laughed and shook his head, "No, but that was the closest thing you'll ever see to it when he's not."

As Auron chased after Jecht with every intention of killing him, Jecht's words rang through his head.

"…_not that bad…"_

"…_spouses…"_

"…_foundations for a relationship…"_

"…_hang around her longer…"_

"…_soft body…"_

"…_so good…"_

"…_soo right…"_

…_Rayne…_

The one thing that really ticked Auron off, though, was the reason he had blushed as heavily as he did. Part of him had agreed.


	14. Death in Spira and The Unexpected Save

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Death in Spira and The Unexpected Save)

After deciding to stay an extra night in Kilika, Rayne excused herself from the inn to go for a walk. The tension between Jecht and Auron was thick, and she only seemed to be making it worse. So, with all of her equipment strapped on but her jacket left behind, Rayne left the inn and decided to head back to the old ladies shop and buy a few more items with the money she had earned fighting. She wanted to do something with her items to make them a bit more organized…

"Hello, Rayne, care if I join you?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Braska seemed to materialize out of nowhere and at her side. He chuckled when he saw her face.

"Sorry."

Rayne shook her head and took a few cleansing breaths, "No, it's nothing. I'm just a tad too jumpy. Um… sure, you can join me, if you want."

He smiled, "Thank you. I find your company to, at times, be slightly more refreshing than theirs."

Knowing he was referring to the still fighting Jecht and Auron, Rayne chuckled, "Oh, Lord Braska, I could hardly imagine why! Those two have enough fun between them to start a party."

"Haha, yes, and a rather violent one, at that."

"Um, speaking of violence, was it wise to leave them alone?"

He chuckled nervously, "Well, it may not seem like it, but I'd like to believe that they know when to stop."

Rayne shook her head, "With Auron and Jecht, that's wishful thinking."

"Yes…" There was a worried pause before he brightened and asked, "So, Rayne, where are we headed?"

"Actually, I met this really nice elderly woman who owns an items shop. I was going to get a few more Potions and several more bags so I can organize all of my stuff. Hmm… she should be right around this corner here."

They turned a corner and came to the shop, but something was wrong. One of the walls was collapsed and several of the crates were busted; but the oddest thing was the damage looked to be years old.

"Something's wrong…" Without another word, Rayne walked over to the shop and ducked under the blanket, leaving a confused and worried Braska to trail behind her.

When he had walked in, he found Rayne sitting on the floor, looking at something behind the counter. Braska stopped where he was and looked around. There were no items or weapons hanging from the walls, only old tapestries. The walls were so aged that in some places they were nothing but the thicker veins of the old wood that had been used to make them. And, though the room was dark, there was a visible layer of thick dust that caked every inch of the old shop. No one had lived, worked, or even entered here in a long, long time.

"Rayne, perhaps this is the wrong place…"

She shook her head slowly, "No, this is it. The box that my staff was in is still here." And it was true, over on the counter was the case, and it wasn't covered in a speck of dust. Her voice trembling, Rayne continued, "And besides, I found the nice old woman…"

Braska slowly walked forward and gasped when he saw what she was pointing to. There, behind the counter, was a skeleton.

"Braska, if she's dead, what did I see?"

There was silence for a moment, and then Rayne heard Braska sit beside her on the dusty floor, he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Rayne, here in Spira, when a person dies, one of three things happen to them. They can pass onto the Farplane, either by a summoner or by accepted death in life. If they do not pass onto the Farplane, they often become angry at the living, and become fiends. Those two are the most common."

He paused, sighed, and went on, "There is one other thing that can happen. If a person's attachment to this world is strong enough, and they can will it, then they become unsent; tangible forms made of memories, thoughts, dreams, and pyreflies. Near exact replicas of their life, but not truly alive."

By this time, Rayne had a far off look in her eyes, and she said in an eerily calm voice, "She told me that her husband was a great weapon smith, and that this staff… my staff, was his last and greatest creation. She said that he was a Black Mage. She said that before he passed twenty years ago, she had promised him that she would make sure that his creation would reach the hands of its rightful owner… whom she said was me… Braska, would that have been her attachment?"

"I don't doubt that it was."

"I wish I could tell her that I was sorry for making her wait so long… but she's already gone, isn't she?"

"It would appear that way."

There was silence, broken by Rayne's shuffling as she got to her feet and walked over to the counter. Without looking at the body behind it, she looked inside of the black case and smiled. There, inside, lay several velvet bags and half a dozen Potions. Flipping the case shut, she locked it with the key that was still in place and picked it up.

"Let's go, Lord Braska, we'll tell the villagers about this place."

They did, indeed, inform several villagers of the woman's death, and were assured that she would receive a proper burial. Rayne learned that the woman's name was Kala, and her husband was Harref, and that no one had been in the shop in fifteen years. Rayne and Braska walked back to the inn together, but Rayne felt alone.



When Rayne and Braska walked back into the inn room, they found Auron and Jecht sitting on opposite sides of the room engaged in a glaring contest. Braska shook his head and sighed while Rayne sat in between them on her bed and opened up the box.

"Alright, you two," said Braska, sounding like a father about to reprimand his children, "What are you arguing about now?"

Jecht smirked impishly, "Oh, nothing. Just Auron's inability to accept the fact that he wants—"

He was cut off by Auron standing and glaring at him even harder, growling in a commanding tone, "You don't want to finish that sentence."

When Rayne saw Jecht freeze in place, she sighed in recognition of the skill, "Honestly Auron, save your 'Threaten' energy for the fiends." She then threw an Ether bottle at Jecht, which smacked him in the forehead and enabled him to move again. "And you quit giving Auron a reason to want to kill you. It's tiring."

The two snorted indignantly, but turned away form each other nonetheless. Braska sat on his bed and watched as Rayne emptied her velvet bags and began to sort her items, removing the other bags from the black box. Quick to bore, Jecht turned and watched her too.

"Whatcha' up to, Rayne?" He asked as he tossed the Ether back over to her.

Not looking up, Rayne caught the bottle and put it among its fellows, "Color coordinating."

And she was. The Potions went inside of the sky blue bag with the navy drawstring, the Antidotes in a purple with green, the Ethers in an acid green with a forest green, the Phoenix Down in the red with gold, and the Grid spheres in the ash bag with the black drawstring. When she had all her items shoved into their respective bags and piled together she still had several bags left over, so she shoved them all into one bag for future items she was sure she was going to get.

"And the point of that was…?"

Rayne sighed and flopped back onto her bed. "Jecht, throw me a Potion, will ya?" She heard him fumble around for a few minutes before one finally landed on her stomach. Throwing it back, she said, "Okay, now ask me for something."

"Uhh… how about an Ether?"

Without even looking, she reached out and grabbed the acid green bag, slid it open, and tossed a bottle to him, all of this taking place in a matter of twenty seconds. "See how quick that was? It's a lot more organized and easy if everything is color coordinated."

He grunted and tossed the Ether back, which Rayne slid back into its bag. She then pulled out the ash-colored bag and the Sphere Grid, deciding to try and figure it out. She saw that her little 'her' space wasn't near any free spaces and that she had to move it. Problem was, she didn't know how to move it or how many spaces she could.

"Uhh, help?" She jumped when the little 'her' space glowed even brighter and a little bubble appeared above it, the number 4 inside of it and all of the Nodes within four moves around the 'her' space glowed a bit brighter. Not sure of what else to do, Rayne reached out and poked one of the available Nodes with her finger, watching as the 'her' space moved along the groves in wonderment.

When the space stopped moving, she had three Nodes available for activation. She reached into her bag and pulled out the spheres, unsure of what to do next. On the game, she had had to use specific spheres to activate specific Nodes. Did it work the same here, now that the game was reality?

"Hold a sphere in front of the Grid." She turned her head to look at Auron, who was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling, his arms behind his head. "The Nodes that that particular sphere will work for will light up. If your space has a grove connected to a Node that is glowing, then press the sphere to the Node."

Doing as he said, she held one sphere in front of the grid. Several Nodes lit up, but none that were available for activation. She repeated this process with several other spheres, able to activate only two of the nodes. She flipped the Grid over and watched as two of the stats changed; Evasiveness going up one and Magic Defense four. The back of her head tingled slightly, followed by her whole body. When it had faded, she was trembling slightly.

"It takes a while to get used to the sensation, but you eventually stop feeling it."

Rayne turned again to look at Auron and found him still staring at the ceiling. Nevertheless, she said, "Thank you." She made sure to put as much sincerity in her voice as she could.

He grunted and shrugged. Jecht laughed, making Auron throw him a glare, making both Braska and Rayne sigh. A moment later, Rayne started laughing. The trio looked at her, having never heard her laugh before. When she saw them staring at her, she laughed even harder, clutching her stomach and flipping over to bury her face into her pillow.

After five minutes and many exchanged glances between the three men, her laughter dwindled and was reduced to periodic giggles, at which point she turned back over and sat up, rubbing the tears out of her eyes with the palm of her hand.

"Alright, kid, what was that about?"

When she looked into Jecht's eyes, Rayne rubbed her eyes even harder and giggled. "It's just… whenever you two fight, you always reminded me of something. It took me a bit to figure it out, but I finally did." She paused, smiling widely and dropping her hands. "You two remind me of my brother and I when we were little kids."

Silence. Then Braska laughing, Jecht turning away, blushing slightly, and Auron grunting loudly and turning to face the wall. Rayne laughed again.



Later that night, after she was sure that all three of the men had fallen asleep, Rayne quietly got to her feet, grabbed her things, and slipped out the door. She strapped her staff to her back as she walked down the stairs, slipping on her coat after she had walked out the entrance to the inn. By the time she had gotten to the forest, she had all of her bags tied to her mesh and was spinning her staff over her head.

'Wow, this is harder than I remember. Guess it was all that adrenalin that had me going…'

Soon, she was fighting fiends in the dark, gathering Gil, items, and, more importantly, spheres and spaces for her Grid. She discovered that training, especially in the dark, was tiring, and she was glad she'd have all the next day to rest on the S.S. _Liki_.

Just then, she heard a buzzing. She looked around franticly, but it was too dark to see where it was coming from. Where was… There! Right behind her! She spun around and saw a bug fiend flying at her, its needle aimed at her neck. She panicked. She was low on health, and tired. She didn't have the energy. If the sting didn't knock her out, the poison would. Why had she gone so long without a Potion?! Oh, crap! In her split-second thinking, it had gotten even closer! She could already feel the stinger in her neck, and she closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the blow…

That never came.

A slashing sound, then a feeling of déjà vu as she opened her eyes and found the fiend erupting into pyreflies. Only, instead of Bahamut, it was Auron who had come to her rescue. He grunted and shook his sword, electric blue blood flinging onto the ground.

"What are you doing? Braska would be furious if he had woken and found you gone."

Trying her best not to snap, she curtly replied, "I was training. And what are you doing? Not taking a walk, I presume."

He sighed. "Couldn't sleep."

"Ah." She took out a Potion and downed half of it, choking at the thickness and oversweetness. "Wha?"

He let out a noise that could have passed for half of a laugh. "Makers thought it would make it more profitable. The original stuff tasted worse; much worse."

"Something else I'm gonna have to get used to, I take it?"

He grunted and watched her down the rest of it. "Use an Ether, too." When she looked at him with a confused look in her eyes, he sighed and continued. "If you're going to stay here and train, use an Ether to build your magic back up. Just eat the powder."

"What?" she called to his retreating form, "You aren't gonna stay and make sure I don't die? I thought you couldn't sleep!"

Without turning, he shouted, "I've suddenly found myself very drowsy. Besides," He stopped and turned, the smirk on his face illuminated by the moon, "You don't need to try so hard to impress me."

Rayne was suddenly glad it was dark where she was standing, because it hid her red face as she shouted back, "Who the hell said I was doing this to impress you?!"

Still smirking, he said, "Just kidding."

She watched him in silence as he walked away, shaking with rage and face embarrassment. She pursed her lips and pointed one finger at him, muttering a word beneath her breath just before he got out of range.



A startled Braska jumped in his bed when Auron slammed open the door and walked in soaking wet. Jecht was still snoring on.

"Auron? What happened?"

The drenched guardian just grunted angrily, throwing off his sopping clothes and crashing onto his bed, covers pulled up in an instant. The summoner looked over the four beds and, when noticing that Rayne's was empty, chuckled and went back to sleep



After bathing in a river (using shampoo, conditioner, and soap she had gotten in the Port when she and Braska were walking back to the inn), Rayne snuck back into town and tiptoed into the room, careful not to wake anyone. She nearly tripped over a heap of clothes lying in the middle of the floor…Wet clothes… Auron's wet clothes.

Feeling a slight pang of pity for the man, Rayne put her stuff away and spread out the clothing on the floor, waving her hand over it and murmuring a quiet and weak 'Fire' spell. She only dried the clothes a little though, so he would still be fairly damp in the morning.

'After all, if you completely revoke his punishment, your pet will never learn.' Giggle.


	15. The Power of Suggestion

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(The Power of Suggestion)

The next morning, Rayne woke early and excused herself from the room, wanting to give Auron a chance to get dressed and Jecht a chance to harass him about his clothes. When Auron emerged twenty minutes later, his still noticeably damp clothes were wrinkled, giving him a disgruntled appearance. The messy hair and moody face didn't help much. He stormed out of the inn, leaving a confused Jecht and Braska behind.

When the two looked to Rayne with questioning eyes, she smiled mischievously and laughed a bit. Braska sighed. Jecht grinned.

"What did you do to him, kid? And why?"

Still smiling, though now it was triumphantly, she glanced at Jecht through half lidded eyes and smoothly replied, "Oh, he decided to play a mean joke on me, so I decided to test my 'Water' spell on him. It worked exceedingly well…"

Jecht laughed and Braska shook his head, saying, "Moving on, let's go. The S.S. _Liki_ will be making its first trip to Besaid soon, and I would prefer to not have to wait another day for it to return."

Jecht and Rayne trailed behind the summoner, the blitzer turning to resume the chat. "What joke did he play on you?"

Rayne looked at him with a serious face and replied, "I'd rather not go into the details, but take his punishment as a warning, Sir Jecht."

"Wha?!" Jecht jumped backwards, "Why me?!"

She narrowed her eyes and dropped her voice, "I believe that when you were teasing Auron the other day, it concerned me. If you have been planning on doing the same to me, then drop it. If you do anything, I'll do the same to you. Only it won't be water. It'll be much, much more painful."

She then waltzed ahead, leaving the blitzer to imagine all of the painful spells she could cast on him. He ran passed her a few moments later and began talking to Braska, the only part Rayne overhearing being something about Nul spells. By the time they got to the S.S. _Liki_, Jecht had already cast ten suspicious looks over his shoulder and had four Nul spells cast on him, the four colored orbs all facing Rayne like orange-sized eyes.

After a little debate, Braska halfheartedly agreed that his travel funds would only pay for himself and his two guardians, while Rayne paid for herself with her own Gil.

"It's bad enough you guys are toting me around, you don't need to pay my way, too." She grumbled as she walked onboard and to the second deck of the ship, the trio heading off in a different direction. As she sat beneath the shade of the giant umbrella, she set her staff aside and pulled her hair back over her shoulder, trying to braid it.

Things weren't going so well, so she dropped her hands and admitted defeat, and she was about to go torture Jecht with a few spells when she felt a hand tap her shoulder. She turned and saw a familiar pair of spiral-pupiled green eyes and a familiar wide smile. "Rammu!"

Rayne smiled widely, exclaiming, "Hey, you're the girl from Luca!"

The girl giggled and pointed to Rayne's hair, "Haat ramb?"

Rayne looked to her hair, "You want to help again?"

The girl nodded, "Oab!"

Nodding, Rayne smiled again, "Alright, if you want." She watched as the girl sat down and took out a small metal sky-blue box, opening it to reveal various beads, ribbons, and hair ties. She chuckled, "You came prepared, huh?"

"Dinh ynuht, bmayca!" The girl grabbed Rayne's shoulders and spun her around, getting to work immediately.

Thoroughly confused by what the girl was saying, Rayne ventured to ask, "You're speaking a different language, aren't you?"

"Oac! Ed ec Al Bhed!"

"Al Bhed?"

"Oac."

"So, you can understand Spiran?"

"Oac."

"But you can't speak it."

"Hu." Her answer sounded a little sadder than all the previous.

"Hmm… jeez, I wish I could learn your Al Bhed."

"Oui lyh!" The girl stopped braiding for a moment and held Rayne's hair with one hand while she fished around for something with the other, audible clankings and shufflings going on behind Rayne's back. After a moment, a small purple pamphlet peaked around Rayne's shoulder. When she took it, the girl got back to work.

Rayne opened the pamphlet and, holding it eye level, began to read:

Hello, and welcome! Thank you for taking the time to learn the language of the Al Bhed, Al Bhed! Through these pamphlets, called 'primers', you can enter the world of the Al Bhed language. In all, there are twenty-six primers, and they can be found all over Spira. And, if you happen to run into any Al Bhed on your journeys, feel free to ask them for any primers you don't have (at a price, of course).

Kuut Milg! (Good Luck!)

A  Y

"Okay, so I take it the 'A' is in Spiran, and the 'Y' is in Al Bhed?"

"Oab!"

After ten minutes, Rayne was still being worked on. She had the girl stop for a moment and twisted herself around, a series of loud cracks issuing from her back. "You're going all out this time, aren't you?"

The girl giggled. "Oac! Yht frah E ys tuha, oui femm pa dra bnaddeacd myto uh dra fruma creb!"

Rayne listened to all of this patiently, but groaned when it was over. "Ugh, I really need to learn Al Bhed!" This made the girl giggle again.

Rayne wasn't sure how much time the girl had taken on doing her hair, but when it was, she jumped to her feet and cracked her back again. "ARG, FREEDOM!!!"

The girl handed her a mirror, then stood behind Rayne with another mirror pointed at her back. Rayne angled her mirror so she could see the reflection of her hair in the reflection of the girl's mirror, and she was pleasantly shocked.

The girl had done one huge braid down Rayne's back, but one of the three locks used to make the big braid had been broken down into several smaller braids with beads of green, yellow, blue, and red randomly placed within their weavings. When the mirror was angled up she saw that her hair had been pulled into a high ponytail before the braiding had started, and when it was angled down she saw it was all held together by a woven and beaded tan leather hair tie.

"This… is gonna be hard to take care of, isn't it?" Moaned an exasperated Rayne.

"Hud ev oui ryja drec." The girl replied slyly, holding up a bottle covered it Al Bhed writing.

"What's this?" Rayne took the offered bottle and squeezed the top, blue foam squirting out of the top and into her hand. She lifted the foam to her nose, an unknown yet pleasant smell invading her senses. When the girl started acting like she was washing her hair, Rayne asked, "Foam shampoo?"

"Oab!"

"Alright, let me pay you for it, and the hair…" Rayne reached for her Gil purse, but was stopped by the girl's hand.

"Hu! Fa yna vneahtc!"

Rayne looked at the girl with a raised brow, "Huh?"

"Vneahtc!" She pointed to herself, "Sa," then to Rayne, "Oui," then made a wide sweeping gesture with her hands, "Vneahtc!"

"Uhh… Sorry, but all I got out of that was you and I are something…"

The girl looked at Rayne with wide eyes, then her face drooped like she were about to cry.

"No, no, no! Please, don't cry! Gimme a second! Um… you and I are… vneahtc… Um… I don't have to pay you because…" Rayne look around desperately, waving her arms in small circles. "Er…"

"Fer…ien…ds…"

Rayne stopped what she was doing and looked back at the girl. "Excuse me?"

The girl put on a look of sheer concentration and pushed out the word again, "Fer…ien…nds…"

"Friends? 'Vneahtc' means friends? You and I are friends?"

The girl looked at Rayne and nodded, smiling widely, "Friends!"

Rayne smiled back, "What's your name?"

The girl tilted her head and jumped a bit, "So hysa ec Rikku!"

"Rikku, huh?" When Rikku nodded again, Rayne kneeled before her and said with a soft smile, "Well, Rikku, my name is Rayne, and from this point on, we are officially friends."

Rikku smiled and threw her arms around Rayne's neck. "Friends!"

"Rikku!"

They both looked towards the stairs, where a tall bald man in what looked like yellow overalls was waving to the girl. "Let's go!"

"Lusehk!" She turned and hugged Rayne one more time, "Poa poa, E'mm senn oui, yht E ruba du caa oui ykyeh!"

Rayne hugged her back, "Goodbye, Rikku. And thank you."

She watched the girl go sadly, but smiled anyway. After a few moments, she leaned back against the umbrella pole and sighed, closing her eyes and enjoying the cool breeze of the ocean. That is, until she got smacked in the head with a blitzball. She screamed, fell over, and looked at the blue and white ball in pure fury, already having a good idea of who had done it.

"Hey, kid!" And would you look at that, she was right.

She picked up the ball and walked over to the railing that overlooked the aft, holding the ball tightly in her hands. She saw Jecht standing with his hands on his hips, surrounded by fawning girls, staring up at her. He waved when he saw the ball.

"Come on down, and bring the ball with you! I was just about to show these ladies the Sublime—" He stopped when she took over for him.

"Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shot Mark III, right?"

He looked at her in shock, but covered it up by laughing and turning back to his adoring fans. "See? It's famous, even among the less traveled people of Spira."

Rayne arched a brow when the girls started tittering and said, "Right. Hey, you ladies are aware of the fact that there is no Mark I or Mark II, right?"

Jecht looked back up at her, shocked again, but covered it up, again, this time with indignance, "Of course there is!"

"Okay, then. Show us all of the Marks, in order!"

Stunned, he barely managed to catch the ball as she hurled it at him. She smirked.

"Go ahead, Jecht. Show all of us the Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shots, Marks I through III."

The crowd of girls looked at him expectantly, but, seeing as there really is no Mark I or Mark II, Jecht had to dig himself out of looking like a fool. And what better way to do it than to direct the attention to someone else.

"Kid, just who do you think you're talking to?"

"Huh?"

"I'm Jecht… no, Sir Jecht! I'm guardian to the future High Summoner Braska and one of the best blitzball players around. I don't have to prove anything to you!"

"Yeah…" Mumbled a few of the girls, some of them now glaring at Rayne.

"These ladies," He gestured to the crowd around him, "Want to see the Mark III, which is so much better than Marks I and II put together. And you would have them wait to see that? No, you would command me? You? A commoner? What some would consider a stalker?"

"Yeah!" All of the girls were now glaring at Rayne.

"So, seeing as these ladies here want to see Mark III, that's what I'm going to show them! And I won't let you, a common stalker, command me to do otherwise! Now, c'mon ladies, it's time to see the shot!"

But Jecht had just made a huge mistake; he underestimated the power of suggestion, especially when it was worked on women. All of the women were now glaring right at Rayne, some of them talking among themselves and others yelling at her.

"Did you hear, she's the one who's been stalking Lord Braska!"

"I know! Isn't that creepy…"

"Who do you think you are? You can't order Sir Jecht around!"

"Well, I heard she's been putting Sir Auron through trouble, too."

"Yeah, I heard she threw herself at him when she was drunk!"

"Yeah, it's true! I saw her do it! They were on the S.S. _Winno_, and…"

"Hey, you aren't a guardian! Why don't you leave the summoner alone?!"

"Yeah, you tramp!"

"Honestly, stalking a summoner's party, and when their all men! Ugh!"

"Whore!"

"Slut!"

Rayne just stood back and took all of this in silence, her hands clenched tightly and her teeth grinding, eyes cast downward. After a few moments, the crowd of women started to file away, some of them still shouting at her. When they had been gone for a few minutes, Rayne looked back up to see Jecht staring at her, open mouthed. Auron and Braska were standing close to him, similar looks on their faces.

"Kid, I… I had no—"

"You happy, Jecht?"

"I didn't know that they—"

Rayne let out an exasperated laugh. "Oh, of course you didn't! After years of manipulating your fans into believing what you wanted them to, you had no clue. No, Jecht, I think you knew perfectly well what you were doing."

"Kid, I honestly had no clue they would say that stuff!"

"Of course you had no clue what they would say, Jecht! But you knew what you were doing!" She groaned loudly, waving her arms for emphasis. "You were trying to divert the attention away from you so you wouldn't look like a fool, and I was the scapegoat! You called me a stalker, Jecht!"

"Well…" Jecht trailed off, thinking. "Well, why would you say all of that stuff, anyway?!"

Rayne quirked a brow, "What? Why wouldn't I say the truth?! Jeez, Jecht, once you had shown them the stupid shot, one of them was bound to as to see the others, anyway! What then? There is no lie you could have told to get out of it! You would have had to admit that there are no other Marks! But, beyond that, your reaction was great! As soon as you were backed into a corner, you lunged out at the person who considered you a friend! Someone who told you some rather important secrets because they felt that you could relate to their hardships and suffering!"

"Kid… Rayne… I—"

"Ugh! Just stop! I'm not gonna do this! I'm done! Have fun with your stupid reputation and your stupid shot!" She waved her hand at the ball, muttering something, covering the ball in ice so cold, it made the ball implode right in Jecht's hand. She then sat back underneath the umbrella and iced the stairs in a sheet so thick it would take days under the hot Spiran sun to melt it.


	16. Powerful Emotions

Okay, once again, we get a glimpse of Rayne's better-than-average powers, and some (or a lot) of you may not like this. But, as always, I swear there is a good reason for this! If you want to know why, keep reading.

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Powerful Emotions)

Later that night, the trio walked back on to the deck and looked up at the second story. The ice was still on the steps and Rayne hadn't come down to bed, leaving them to believe that she was still sulking at the top.

Jecht walked towards the steps tensely and called, "Hey, kid! You still up there?" His answer was an icy spike that shot out of the stairs and stopped just millimeters from his face. "Whoa!" He stumbled backwards and hit the rail, almost dropping into the ocean. When he had recovered, he looked to Braska and Auron, his eyes pleading for help. They just shook their heads and pointed to the upper deck, sending him the signal: 'You screwed up, you fix!'

He sighed and watched as the spike melted back into the ice sheet, desperately trying to figure out how he was going to get to the top. Then, an idea struck him. "Alright, kid, I'm coming up!" He stomped over to the stairs and, as he expected, another spike formed in the ice, only this time he stepped to the side and jumped on top of it, using it like a ladder. More spikes shot out and he continued on his way up, dodging and jumping on top of them.

When he reached the top, though, he found Rayne standing to meet him, her icy blue eyes narrowed and her hands raised. "Kid!" He tried to start, "I'm sor—" He was cut of, though, when another ice sheet rose from the old and slammed into him, sweeping him to the side and sending him careening to the aft of the boat.

Auron, who had just about had enough of this, took advantage of the ice-free steps and ran up, vaulting over the railing and coming up behind her. He grabbed her wrists from behind and crossed them over her chest, lowering his mouth to her ear and shouting, "Enough!"

Rayne started struggling and screaming, spells of all sorts going off around her and Auron and the air around her crackling. Jecht and Braska ran to the top, ducking as a Demi spell went off beside their heads. Braska looked at her with wide eyes, "She shouldn't be able to do that spell, yet!"

Jecht watched as she thrashed around in Auron's arms, her eyes wide and wild, and he shook his head slowly, "It's like she's 'Berserked', but worse."

"That's actually the most accurate description for it that there is."

The three looked at the stairs, where an elderly couple was now standing. Braska turned to them.

"What's wrong with her?"

The old man sighed and shook his head, watching Rayne with pity in his eyes, "She's been taken over by her magic. I've only seen it happen once, but I would recognize anywhere. I had feared this…"

Jecht's eyes narrowed at this and he took a step between Rayne and the couple, "Just who're you?"

The couple looked at each other and chuckled, the woman bowing slightly, "I am Kala and this is my husband, Harref. I am the one who gave her the staff."

Harref bowed, "And I am the one who gave her my magic."

Braska stiffened and stared at the two, "Then why have you not passed on?"

The old man sighed and looked back to Rayne, "Because, I feared that this would happen. She was mentally unstable when I passed my magic to her, but there really wouldn't have been a better time."

Kala nodded, "And so I gave her the staff in hopes that it would calm her instability, and it did… for a while. But now, the calming effect is wearing off."

Harref took over, "When people of high magical affinity, especially Mages, have a mental breakdown, their power flares. They then retreat to their minds, seeking sanctuary, and the magic takes over their body, ruling it using the simplest and most common of emotions."

"Anger, fear, sorrow, just to name a few." Kala added.

"Is there anything you can do?" Asked Braska.

Harref and Kala looked at each other, Harref then nodded hesitantly, "We can sate it… for now."

"But," Kala added quickly, "It would only be temporary, and she would more than likely suffer this again. Probably several times throughout her life."

"It all depends on her changing mental states. The more unstable she is, the greater the chances, and more frequent the attacks."

"She can learn, over time, to control this herself…"

"But, in the beginning, she would need help and support. People she can count on. Friends." Harref looked between the three men pointedly. "Can we count on you for this?"

The trio looked between each other, then to Rayne, who was still struggling in Auron's arms and haphazardly casting spells.

"Wait…" Jecht turned back to the couple, "What's making her so unstable, anyway? If you knew that she was unstable, then why did you give her such powerful magic? How do we know that we can trust you?"

Kala smiled sadly, "Ah, disbelieving youth. The thing that is making her so unstable, young man, is sorrow. That young lady has grown up in an illusion, and she is having a hard time accepting reality."

"And," Said Harref, "I gave her that magic because she needs it, and is going to need it. Besides, it needed to be returned to its rightful owner. As for trusting us… well… there really is nothing we can do about that. You can either risk it, or risk her staying like that." Another Demi spell was dodged. "Which will you chose?"

"And can we count on you to help her, if ever this happens again?"

The trio exchanged glances again, looked at Rayne again, then looked back at each other and nodded. Braska turned to the couple and bowed. "We will do our best. Please, help her."

The couple stepped forward and took Rayne from Auron, surprisingly able to restrain her. Kala took Auron's old position and held Rayne from behind, whispering into her ear in soothing tones while Harref grabbed her face in his hands.

"Shush now, child." Rayne's eyes locked with his and she scowled at him, growling. Harref just lifted one of his hands and rubbed her head, leaving the other to cup her cheek. "Child, you need to come out of this. You're hurting your friends. You're hurting yourself. You could take this whole ship down and kill everyone onboard. You don't want to be a killer."

The spells decreased in frequency.

"That's right, dearie. Calm down. It's alright. We're here. You're surrounded by people who care for you. You're not alone." Kala whispered.

Rayne stopped thrashing and the spells stopped completely.

"I promise, you're not alone."

She looked at the ground and started trembling.

"We're here with you; for you."

A tear slid down her face and, when it dropped to the ground, everything that was once frozen or burning changed back to normal, if slightly waterlogged or charred.

"We promise, you're not alone."

Rayne slumped and her face went blank. Kala and Harref let her go and stepped back, leaving Rayne to stand on her own. They then turned to Braska.

"It is done, Lord Summoner." Kala whispered, exhaustion evident on her face.

"Please," Harref spoke similarly, "Send us now."

Braska nodded solemnly, raising his staff and twirling it, the elderly couple breaking into pyreflies. They held each others hands, closed their eyes, and faded away, Rayne watching them go with a blank face. When it was over, she quietly walked passed Braska and down the stairs. The trio followed her, Auron grabbing her staff, and she walked across the deck, down the hull stairs, and into the boarding rooms, where she collapsed on her hammock and immediately fell asleep.

The trio followed not long afterwards.

_Rayne was floating… in white… just floating… she heard voices around her…_

"We were lucky, this time."

_Who was it?… They sounded… familiar…_

"If Kala and Harref hadn't been there, she would have killed them all."

_She recognized the voices… but… she hadn't heard them in so long, it seemed…_

"Having Harref give her those powers when she was still unstable was reckless."

_Wait… were they… talking about her?…_

"I know, but we had no choice. She had to get them then and there."

_That voice… the boy in purple?…_

"I agree. Any later would have been too late, and that wouldn't be acceptable."

_Were they… the Fayth?…_

"I'll say it again; we were lucky. What about next time?"

_Yes… they had to be…_

"Is all of this really worth it? Do we really have to risk this?"

_Risk?… Risk what?…_

"Yes. They all must wake, even her. No one may be left behind."

_Bahamut?… What is he talking about?…_

"He's right. Besides, it really is our fault it turned out like this."

_Valefor…_

"Hmm, I agree. They should have been kept under better watch."

_Was that… Yojimbo?…_

"How could you even ask that question? She is just as deserving as the rest!"

_Ifrit…_

"Yes, she is. And besides, she has someone waiting for her, on the other side."

_The… priestess?…_

"I never said she wasn't! It's just… she's been placed in a delicate position…"

_The mariner…_

"Yes. And if they can't handle another slip up like that…"

"It could permanently damage…"

"The future, and everything we've worked for!"

_The women… those sisters…_

"I believe that she can handle it. That they can handle it."

_Seymour's aeon… Anima…_

"Yes, I believe so as well. Which is why I risked this. I believe that she can do it."

_Bahamut… what did you risk?…What does this have to do with me?…_

"Don't worry, they can handle it. Besides, she does have him there to help."

_Him?… Him who?…_

"Sure, she has him! But they can't stop—"

_No… Wait!… What's going on?… Wait… I don't… want to… wake… up…_

But it was too late… she was already awake.

"I DON'T WANNA WAKE UP YET!!!"

"I… I'm sorry… Kid… but ya… gotta… now… please… let go… of my neck!"

Rayne's eyes snapped open to find a blue faced Jecht in front of her, his neck in her hands. She hastily let go of his neck and watched wide eyed as he stumbled backwards, sucking in air.

"Oh, jeez, Jecht! I am SO sorry!"

He waved her off, grinning and coughing. "It's alright, really. It's better than the punishment you gave me last night."

Rayne frowned, "Last night? What happened?"

He blinked, "You don't remember?"

She shook her head and frowned even more, "Alright, your vagueness is really making this sound bad. And I mean bad! What happened between us last night?!"

Jecht looked at her oddly, then burst out into laughter, "Oh, Yevon, kid! Not that! No, no, no! You got really mad at me yesterday and beat the hell out of me with a load of 'Blizzard' spells. That's it!"

Her eyes widened, "'That's it'?! Jecht! Why in the hell did I do that?! I could have killed you, and all you can say is 'that's it'?! Oh, God! I'm a monster!" She buried her head in her hands and rocked back and forth.

"Hey!" Rayne looked up when Jecht snapped at her, "Stop blaming yourself! I actually deserved what I got, so drop it and forget it! Now, let's go, we're almost in Besaid!" He grabbed her hand and drug her out of the hammock. "We'll be up top, but before you come up, you have got to see the engine room! It's hilarious! See ya when ya come up!" He then ran out of the room.

"That's great, Jecht, but where is the engine room?!" She groaned, strapped her staff to her back, threw on her coat, grabbed her box and walked out of the bunk room, walking around and looking for another door. Then, in a small dark corner, she saw a small door that had 'Engine Room' written on it. Shrugging, she walked inside and almost fainted at what she saw. "What the hell is this?!"

"It's chocobo power!"

Rayne turned and glared at the young woman who said it. "I would call it 'animal cruelty' before I called it that!" The woman chuckled.

"Oh, no! It's alright, really. The chocobos like it. There never was a chocobo who didn't like to run!"

Rayne frowned and looked at the chocobos running in the mouse wheel contraptions. "You sure?"

"Yep. We even left the side of the wheel open so they can get out if they want to."

When she noticed this, Rayne nodded, "If you say so…" She paused when she saw something small and purple in the back of the room. "Excuse me." She walked over and picked it up. 'Another primer!' "Hey!" When the woman turned to her, Rayne waved the primer. "Do you mind if I take this?"

"Hmm, never seen that before. Ah, it's probably nothing important. Go ahead and take it."

"Thanks." She opened it and found the same introduction as before at the top, but the translation was different.

B P

"Is it just me, or is this just Spiran with the letters mixed around?"

"Huh?"

Rayne looked up and found the woman staring at her strangely. She laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head, "Oh, nothing! Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you. Ta ta!"

Rayne ran out of the room and up onto the deck, stepping out into the sun and breathing in the salty air deeply. Suddenly, she had the oddest feeling that someone was looking at her… or rather… glaring at her. 'What's Auron ticked off about now?!' But it wasn't Auron.

Rayne turned to find a group of girls and women huddled close together, whispering to each other and glaring at her periodically. Snippets of the previous night came flooding back.

"…_stalking the summoner's party…"_

"…_giving Sir Auron trouble…"_

"…_leave the summoner alone…"_

"…_tramp…"_

"…_whore…"_

"…_slut…"_

She turned away from the group quickly, feeling all of the blood drain out of her face. 'Is all of Spira talking about this?' No longer eager to look for the trio, Rayne walked over to the port railing, away from the group. She was staring down into the water when she heard Jecht calling her.

"Kid! Over here!"

She looked up and saw Jecht waving at her from the fore, Braska and Auron standing with him.

"Come on, you're gonna miss it!"

Rayne stole a quick, and she hoped unnoticed, glance at the group of chatting women, all of whom were not silent and staring at her. She looked back at Jecht, who hadn't seen her look away, and dismally shook her head, turning away and back out to the ocean.

She was looking at a particularly interesting piece of kelp when she heard a pair of heavy boots walk up beside her and saw a shadow next to hers in the water.

"Let's go. Jecht will be upset if you don't join."

An arm reached out and wrapped around her waist, then drug her away from the railing and led her to the front. When they passed by the group of girls, the arm held her even tighter, and she looked down and saw a red sleeve.

"Auron, please. Don—"

"Do not allow that kind of scum to get under your skin, or I won't bother with helping you again. They don't deserve any pleasure from tormenting you. Had there not been any question about wanting you with us or not, we would have left you in Kilika."

He felt her muscles clench under his arm, and barely heard her breath a, "Thank you." He grunted, squeezed his arm slightly, and let her go when they had reached their destination; the prow of the vessel.

"Heeey." Jecht drawled with a grin. "You two were looking pretty cozy o—"

"Jecht!"

"Jecht, please…" Rayne sighed, "Not now."

Auron glanced at her, "Don't forget what I told you."

Jecht watched as she nodded, eyes cast downward, then loudly said, "Well, when you're done moping, let's watch the docking!"


	17. Guardian!

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Guardian?!)

Rayne looked at the small island in awe. Most of it was forest, and there were tall, sheer cliffs with huge waterfalls. But, there were also large remains of the old machina cities and, on a small peninsula, she could see the tops of the Temple and several smaller buildings. Besaid Isle; home of the aeon Valefor, the little girl. She was so distracted by its beauty, she never noticed Jecht yelling at her.

"KID!"

"AH!" She jumped forward when he screamed in her ear, "WHAT?! Oh, sorry. I guess I wasn't listening. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Where did you get the stuff to do your hair? It must have taken you hours to get all of those teeny weenie braids in, and we weren't on the boat that long yesterday."

"Oh," Rayne grabbed her braid and fiddled with it, "A cute little girl I met in Luca is onboard. She did it there the first time, and came prepared this time. She even gave me foam shampoo!" She whipped it out and showed him.

Braska looked at the writing on the bottle and blinked, "If I may?" She handed it to him and he looked it over. "What was her name?"

"Rikku, why?"

Braska stiffened and quickly handed the bottle back. "Hide it before someone recognizes the writing."

Frowning, Rayne put it away, "Is there a problem?"

"Are you aware of the fact that the girl, Rikku, was Al Bhed?"

"Yeah, she told me. Why?"

Braska frowned and shook his head, "Don't tell anyone you talked to her, or even mention her when we're in public."

"Why?!"

He sighed, "Not many people like the Al Bhed. Most avid Yevon followers, near everyone in Spira, hate them. The Al Bhed are machina users, users of ancient machinery from the days long passed. It's against Yevon to use them."

Rayne raised a brow, "That's it? The only reason people hate them is because they use electric toasters instead of a fire and an iron press? Because they use florescent lights instead of a candle? Because they like central heat and air? The hell?"

Braska nodded, "I realize that this may not make much sense, but I can't explain any further. We're landing."

They turned and watched as the ship drifted up beside the dock, members of the crew jumping off with ropes to tie them down. Then, a chain was removed and the plank was dropped, allowing people to run off and hug their waiting relatives and friends. Theirs was one of the last groups off, and many turned to gasp at Braska in awe. One of the men of the island, dressed in Temple robes, walked forward and bowed in the Yevon prayer form, murmuring, "Lord Summoner."

Many others followed his lead, many courses of "Lord Summoner" echoing throughout the crowds.

Braska bowed back, "I am Braska, of Bevelle. Thank you for welcoming me."

The man walked forward, looking from Auron to Jecht approvingly. "And these are your guardians, I presume?"

Braska nodded, "They are."

The man's eyes skimmed over Rayne briefly then snapped back to her, confusion evident. "And… who are you?"

Before Rayne could open her mouth, Braska answered, "She is also my guardian." He looked at her pointedly, "If she will accept."

Rayne just stared wide eyed at Braska, mouth opening and closing like a proverbial fish out of water, "Wha?"

Braska tilted his head, "You refuse?"

She stopped gaping and shook her head, "Nononononononono! I don't refuse! It's… just…"

He nodded, "Very well." He turned back to the man, "As I said, she is also my guardian."

The monk nodded and smiled at Rayne, "Congratulations, young guardian."

"Th-th-thank you!" Rayne bowed, but stopped halfway and preformed the Yevon bow instead.

The monk laughed and stepped aside, allowing Braska and his group to walk onto the boardwalk, a stunned Rayne now included in the group. When they had reached the ruin pillars, Rayne dropped her box and screamed, "Braska, what the hell?!"

He stopped and chuckled, "I'm surprised you held it in that long."

She screamed and stomped her feet, "DO NOT LAUGH AT ME! Lord Braska, are you HIGH?! I am nowhere NEAR guardian material, and I hardly know what the hell I'm supposed to do!!"

"You summed it up before." Auron said. "Protect the summoner with your life until we reach Zanarkand. There, Lord Braska will receive the Final Aeon and we fight Sin."

"And yes, kid," Jecht said, "You are guardian material. Come on, even I am, apparently. We still gotta travel all the way across Spira, and taking your current magic status into account, you should be more than prepared when we arrive."

Rayne looked at the three, "YOU ALL TALKED ABOUT THIS, DIDN'T YOU?!"

The three looked at each other, then turned back to her and nodded.

"Yes."

"That's right."

"Yep!"

She felt her eye twitch, "When?"

"Last night."

"While you were sleeping."

"More like knocked out."

She twitched again, "And when did you plan on telling me?"

"Right about then was good."

"The timing there was actually perfect."

"Right when you would be most embarrassed about it."

Twitch again. Silence. Twitch. Tense silence. Twitch. Dragging tense silence. Twitch. Dragging tense silence broken by laughter. Twitch. Everyone looks at Jecht. Twitch. Jecht walks over and slaps a hand on her back. Twitch. Jecht grins.

"Welcome to the club, Rayne."

… Twitch.



Braska turned away from the battle and looked at his two male guardians, who had long given up. Auron and Jecht were sitting on rocks a ways away from the fight, their weapons resting beside them, their faces expressing their slight worry and extreme boredom. Braska walked over and joined them.

"You don't suppose she's… angry, do you?"

They looked back at Rayne, who was currently whacking the senses out of a blorba with her staff, despite the fact that she had already been told that only her black magic would work effectively enough to kill it quickly.

"Nah," Replied Jecht. "She's probably just… really eager to battle."

Braska shook his head. "But, this is the tenth battle she has taken over. She even tried to attack Auron when he tried to handle that giant bird. And I've tried casting 'Esuna' on her repeatedly, but she doesn't seem to have any status changes that are affecting her mentality. I'm only left to assume that she is angry."

"Don't worry, Lord Braska," Advised Auron, who was now entertaining himself by watching her smack an already dead dog-fiend into a bloody pulp. "She'll tire herself out eventually. Until then, sit back and enjoy the show."

By the time they were in seeing distance of Besaid village, all of their packs were bulging with coins, items, and Grid spheres, and they were all carrying at least two extra weapons. But Rayne was still twitching. Tired, but twitching. Jecht took out a video sphere and turned it on, recording some of the scenery. He then turned it to Rayne and began talking.

"This is the newest addition to our happy little family. She just found out, after traveling with us for a few days, that Braska wanted her as a guardian. She agreed, but has been taking her frustration out on poor, defenseless fiends ever since. I guess she didn't like having the idea popped out at her too much, did ya, Rayne?"

She looked at the sphere, eyes flashing, "Jecht, if you don't take that thing off of me, I'm gonna take it and shove it somewhere really uncomfortable and trust me, you won't want to walk for a while."

He turned the sphere off, scowling, "Come on, kid. Keep this PG, I'm taking it back to my son, who less than half your age."

She twitched and sighed, "Sorry."

He smiled, "It's alright! I'll just erase that and film it again! And, in case you want to know, his name's Tidus."

This time, she looked at the sphere with a weak smile on her face and said, "Hey, Tidus! Listen, if your dad doesn't come back in one piece, please forgive me. I couldn't help it. Growing up with him for as long as you did, I'm sure you understand."

"Heh, yeah right." Jecht said before he turned off the sphere. "The kid was a crybaby. I was always tryin' to toughen him up, but he cried anyways. He probably never had the guts to even think about hurting me."

"You never said that to his face, did you?!"

Jecht blinked. "Huh?"

Rayne let out a small scream and shook her head, "Jecht! That's the kind of stuff that can ruin a child!"

"Ruin?" Jecht scratched the back of his head, "I was only trying to toughen him up."

Rayne groaned, "Jecht, let life lessons toughen him up! It's your job as a parent to try and shield him a bit, let him suffer a bit when he makes mistakes, and love him regardless!"

"I do love him!"

Rayne crossed her arms and frowned, "Oh, so you're one of those 'tough love' parents, eh?"

Jecht sighed and scratched the back of his head, "I can't help it. I don't know how else to take care of him. He… he cries so easily, so I thought that if I went a bit rough on him, he'd… just…"

Rayne smiled slightly, watching him struggle for the right words, "You really do love him, don't you?"

Jecht smiled back and nodded, "Yeah. It's just so hard to say, I never—"

"We're here."

The both looked forward to see Besaid village; a small community make of ramshackle huts with the Temple in the back. Auron was holding another sphere, taking footage of it.

"Auron, not you too!" Rayne cried.

Jecht stepped inside of the village walls, looking around with traces of contempt on his face, "Smallest heap of huts I've ever seen!"

Braska walked beside him and looked around, something entirely different on his face. "Now, that looks like a fine place to live."

Rayne could have laugh. 'Yin and Yang, those two.'

"Auron!"

Auron, still recording, turned the sphere to Braska. "My Lord?"

Braska smiled, still looking over the village, "When this is over… could you bring Yuna here? I want her to lead a life far away from this conflict."

A look of sorrow, as if this were coming from Braska's final will, crossed Auron's face, and he solemnly replied, "You have my word. I will bring her here."

Still smiling, Braska turned to Auron, both of them disregarding the still recording sphere, "Thank you, Auron. You are a good friend."

Rayne watched all of this silently, suddenly aware of the gravity of Braska asking Auron this. Was there something they hadn't told her? Still weren't telling her?

"What are you guys doin'?" They turned to face Jecht, who was walking further into the village. "Let's go! I'm so hungry I could eat a shoopuf whole!"

Braska sighed and smiled, "Sorry. Well, let's go then."

Auron turned off the sphere and Rayne walked up beside him. "Shoopuf?"

He sighed and shook his head, "You'll see when we reach the Moonflow."

As he walked off, Rayne jogged to catch up with him. "Hey. You guys are already more than halfway done with the pilgrimage, right?"

"Hm." He nodded.

"Then, why let me join now?"

"What," He looked at her. "You want out already? And you were so persistent."

She groaned, "You know that's not what I mean!"

"It was what Braska wanted."

"Why?"

He sighed and stopped walking in front of the Crusaders hut. "You'd have to ask him."

When he turned to walk in, she grabbed his arm. "I want to know your opinion, too, Auron. Do you want me here?"

He froze, an unreadable expression on his face. Rayne was quite and let him think, not wanting him to get mad and walk off without leaving an answer. After a moment, he sighed again, "I don't know. Ask me when we reach Zanarkand."

He walked in and left her standing alone. She sighed, "I'll hold you to that, Auron."



After the beast in all of them (especially Jecht) had been sated, they agreed that it was too late to head to the Temple, yet too early to sleep. So, they stuck wandering the village. They first stopped by the items shop, where they sold much of their spare items and all of the unnecessary weapons. Then, not really interested in walking back into the hot sun, they perused the trinkets.

"Hey, kid." Rayne dropped a seashell necklace she was looking at and turned to Braska. He was holding up a sphere and smiled. "Why don't you make one, too? You could take it back to your brother."

Rayne wrinkled her nose, "No, thanks. I'm not a big fan of movies."

"How about a song, then? They got some great music spheres. If you don't like any of the ones here, they got a wider selection in Luca."

Rayne sighed and looked back at the jewelry on the racks. "Not a fan of music, either."

"What?!" He ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder, flipping her around and looking at her with a surprised look on his face. The surprise grew. "You're serious, aren't you?" She nodded. "Jeez, kid! And you call yourself a teenager! All kids love music! The kids in Zanarkand loved music, I'm sure kids in your world love music, and there are even kids here, in 'no machina Spira', that love music! What in Spira is your problem?!"

Rayne sighed and turned to face Jecht. "Remember, back on Kilika, when I told you I was an outcast for my beliefs? This is that belief. Unless it's a book, I don't like most forms of storyline entertainment. I just don't. No clue why, and I probably never will know. But, the 'why' doesn't really matter, just the fact that I don't like it. You dig?"

Jecht shook his head and sighed, "Not really, but fine. Just do me a favor, will ya? At one point or another, buy one and make a recording. Because, the truth is, you and I are counting on something amazing to make us go home, and that might not happen. See, even if they never see it, I want to leave something behind for my wife and kid. That's why, ever since the beginning, I've been recording and leaving behind spheres, just in case they can somehow make it back if I don't. So… in case you don't get back to your brother… just… think about leaving him something, alright?"

After listening to that, something was confirmed to Rayne; they weren't telling her something. She was going to find out what it was. But… for now…

She nodded and took the sphere from his had, "Alright, Jecht. I will think about it."

He sighed and smiled, "Thanks, kid."


	18. Then He Closed the Door

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Then He Closed the Door)

They perused a bit more, then, after Rayne paid for her sphere, Rayne decided to hit it solo and go train. Jecht offered to go with her, but she declined. She needed to think. On her way out of the village, she saw several teens playing at the entrance of a large and familiar hut. One of the teens, a girl, had black hair and red eyes, while the other two, both boys, had orange hair and brown eyes. One of the boys was Wakka. The other boy and the girl were holding hands. 'Chappu and Lulu…'

When Wakka saw her looking at them, he motioned to the other two, who turned and looked at her. Rayne smiled a bit and raised her hand. They looked at each other, then turned back to her and smiled widely, raising their hands and waving. She lowered her hand and was about to walk out of the village when Chappu waved her over. She hesitated, then headed over.

"Hey!" Chappu greeted when she was close. "We haven't seen you around here, ya? You just come in on the _Likki_?"

Rayne nodded, "Yes. My name is Rayne."

"I'm Chappu. This is Lulu, and my big brother Wakka."

Rayne preformed the Yevon bow, "It is a pleasure."

Wakka stood and returned the bow, as did Chappu and Lulu, and then he asked. "So, what brings you to Besaid?"

"I am on a pilgrimage."

Their jaws dropped and Lulu's eyes flickered to the staff on her back. "You're a summoner?"

Rayne laughed and shook her head, "No. I am a guardian. I am traveling with Summoner Braska of Bevelle, along with the guardians Auron and Jecht."

"Ah!" They bowed again.

"So," Wakka began, "What're you?"

"Huh?"

Lulu rolled her eyes, "Sorry about him, he often doesn't finish a thought before the words leave his mouth. He means, as a guardian, what do you fight as?"

"Oh! My apologies, I'm new to this whole guardian thing. I am a Black Mage."

"Hey!" Chappu exclaimed, "So is Lu! You gotten to the second level spells, yet?"

Rayne laughed, "Not quite. Then again, I haven't upgraded my Grid since Kilika, so…"

"May I see your Grid?"

Rayne blinked, then nodded and dug her Grid out, handing it to Lulu. The teen Mage scanned the front, then the back, and her eyes widened when she saw the stats. "You haven't done much, but your Magic is amazing! Do you come from a magic family?"

Rayne shook her head, "No. I believe that I am the first."

Lulu's head snapped up, "The first? And you're already using magic at a 45? You must have a high magical affinity, then." She handed Rayne her Grid back.

"That would probably be the best explanation for it."

"Hey…" Rayne looked to Wakka, who was looking at his feet and shuffling them, "Could we… could we watch you fight? We've never seen a real guardian in action, and it… it would be… it would be a real learning experience for us, right guys?" The other two nodded, looking at Rayne with hopeful eyes.

Rayne scratched the back of her head, her eyes falling to her feet. "Hey, listen, you guys. I just became a guardian today, so I'm probably not the best example of a guardian's power and abilities."

"Time doesn't always matter! Lord Braska picked you, even though he's already almost done with his journey, so you must be good! So, please, could we?"

Rayne looked at their faces, immediately regretting it, and couldn't say no. "Alright, let's go."

They cheered and jumped to their feet, running back inside their hut after excusing themselves for a moment. They soon all came out carrying their weapons; Wakka his blitzball, Lulu her stuffed moogle, and Chappu his sword. They all headed out of the village, the three teens jumping for joy and Rayne working hurriedly on her Grid, her entire body tingling. Her stats improved largely, and she came closer to activating the second level magic. Her strength, though, was still low. 'Gotta steal Auron's Grid.'

"Lady Rayne!"

Her head snapped up at the mention of her name, and she looked between the teens in confusion. "Huh?"

Chappu waved his hand, "I said we're almost in big fiend territory. You ready?"

She nodded, "Yeah, but… did you just call me 'Lady'?"

Wakka nodded, "Yeah, it's what all female guardians are called. No one's ever called you that?"

She shook her head, "I did just become a guardian today. Though, everyone has been a bit more polite…"

Chappu laughed, "Ah, the advantages to being a guardian, eh?"

She was about to say something when the air was shattered by a loud screech. She saw a giant bird-fiend coming and shouted, "You guys get down!"

They jumped behind a bush while Rayne dropped to the ground, the fiend just barely missing her back. When it had flown over, Rayne was back on her feet in a second, unsheathing her staff and twirling it around her head. She grinned as the bird came back at her, "Let's dance!"

The bird swooped at her and, the upgrades she made on her Grid fully functional, Rayne spun to the side, reaching out with one of the bladed arcs of her staff and raking it across the fiend's right eye. It screeched loudly, swerving to the left and crashing into the ground. Rayne took advantage of its turned back and yelled, "Blizzard!"

The attack aimed at the fiend's wings, freezing many major nerves and tendons, permanently crippling it (unless someone cast 'Cure' one it, but who's gonna do that?) The fiend turned and faced Rayne, screeching in pain as its frostbitten wings drug on the ground. She dodged as its head came at her again, aiming with her staff and taking out the birds other eye. The wingless and now blind fiend cried out in rage and agony, thrashing in every direction.

Rayne dodged its head as it came flinging passed, then began to cast spell after spell on the fiends head. "Thunder! Fire! Water! Fire! Blizzard! Thunder! Blizzard! Fire! Water!(etc.)" Soon enough, the fiend collapsed and exploded into pyreflies, leaving a triumphant Rayne to spin-toss her staff into the air like a baton, spin once, and catch it with one hand. The teens burst out of the bushes, all of them running over to congratulate Rayne.

"That was amazing!"

"I've never seen anyone beat one of those by themselves."

"Your technique was great! You went for the weak points immediately!"

Rayne smiled, "Well, one thing I have learned about big fiends is this; you take out their eyes and their far easier to beat down. And speaking of beat…" She reached into her acid green bag and pulled out an Ether, downing the powder. "Hmm, not bad. Kinda tastes like apple."

Lulu stared at her wide eyed, "That's your first time having an Ether?!"

Rayne smiled sheepishly and swallowed, "Hehe, well, there was always one of those blue spheres nearby…"

"Here," She looked and saw Wakka handing her a handful of Grid spheres. "From the fiend."

She smiled and shook her head, closing Wakka's hands, "You keep them. I have until Zanarkand to get as many as I need, and I already beat two of those today."

He looked at his hands and then her with wide eyes, "Really?"

She nodded once. She had overkilled that fiend, so it had spewed out a lot of spheres. They could probably use them more than she. After all, Lulu and Wakka would have to guard Yuna soon…

"Well," She clapped her hands. "If you guys are done, why don't we head back? I'm bone tired."

The teens readily agreed; it was growing dark and all of the more ferocious fiends came out after dark. When they were almost back to the village, Rayne was engaged in another battle, this time with several dog-fiends. She turned to the teens and smiled, "Care to join?"

They gapped at her, but hurriedly agreed when she had to dodge another attack. Rayne noticed that Wakka's and Lulu's techniques wouldn't change much, and Chappu fought a lot like Tidus. When the battle was over, the three teens insisted that Rayne keep all of the Grid spheres from that battle.

As soon as they walked back into the village, several other teens noticed their friends walking with an older stranger and hurried over. Rayne hastily excused herself and left them to spin their own tales, speed walking back to the Crusaders lodge. Inside their room, she found her three companions all awake and whispering to each other. As soon as she shut the door, they stopped and looked away.

Rayne quirked a brow and put a hand on her hip, "Well if that doesn't raise suspicions…"

Jecht speedily said, "We weren't talking about you!"

The other two groaned and Rayne laughed, "You never struck me as the type who was bad at telling lies, Jecht."

Knowing he had gotten them caught, Jecht sighed and hesitantly said, "Well… it's just…"

"We saw you with those kids, Rayne."

She snapped her gaze to Auron, "And is there a problem with me being with people close to my age?"

"No, Rayne, not at all!" Braska exclaimed, pausing before he continued. "It's just that… you looked happy with them, with kids closer to your age, and that made us happy. It also made us wonder…"

Auron sighed, "We wondered if you would be better off here. If you would be happier in Besaid. If we should really let you come with us, to Zanarkand."

Rayne felt her blood run cold, "Then, you mean to leave me here? After making me a guardian, you mean to abandon me?"

"Look, kid. You're still young, only nineteen! You have your whole life ahead of you; a life that could easily be lost on this pilgrimage. Like I said before, the chances aren't in our favor for you and me getting home. But you could start fresh here. You could live a full life."

Rayne glared at Jecht, "So could you! You could start over in Luca, and be a famous blitzer again! You could remake the life you had in Zanarkand in this current Spira, but I don't hear that being suggested!"

Jecht sighed, "I have a family I want to get back to."

Rayne gave him an exasperated look, "So do I!"

"I know kid, but you're younger than I am. I can't easily start over, but you can. Besides," He looked away, obviously feeling guilty about what he was going to say. "Chances are in better favor for me getting home than you. I touched Sin and got transported a thousand years into the future. Something 'happened' to you, and you were transported here from another world entirely, never mind the time span, which we wouldn't be able to measure anyway."

Rayne stumbled backwards, "I can't believe I'm hearing this… Braska, do you feel like this too?" The summoner closed his eyes and turned his head, nodding slightly. Desperate, she turned to Auron. "Auron…" He kept his gaze focused on his shoes.

Even Rayne could hear the tremor in her voice as she spoke, "Auron, I know you don't like me, but I still want to hear you speak. I want to know what you think. I want to know what goes on inside of your head. Please, tell me… I need to hear your voice. Please…"

She saw Auron clench his hand tightly. He then stood and walked towards her, his eyes piercing into hers, "Nothing is possible between us."

"Auron…" Rayne took a step backwards.

"You're too young… too full of life for this." He walked towards her, his voice never rising.

"Auron…" She looked at him with wide eyes, her voice trembling, taking another step backwards.

"You may be powerful, but power isn't everything. You aren't ready for this." His voice didn't betray him, and his face was too shadowed for her to see his eyes. He stepped closer.

"Auron… why…" She bumped into the door. She was cornered.

"It was never meant to be." He pressed up against her, placing his hand on both sides of her head. "You came in too late. It never would have worked. You came in right after my life had changed. Had you come earlier, things might have been different. I just might have…" His fingers brushed the side of her face, wiping away her tears.

"Au… ron…"

His face bent closer to hers, but stopped just before her lips. "You can't come." His hand lowered to the handle. "You have to stay." His eyes were shadowed; she couldn't tell if he was looking at her or not. "You have to have the chance that we don't." His hand turned the handle. "I'm sorry."

The door swung outward and she fell through, landing sprawled on her back. Before she could look back up, the door shut. Her journey was over…


	19. Her Decision

I feel the end drawing near…

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(Her Decision…)

That night, after they had shut the door, I walked to the hut that Wakka, Lulu, and Chappu lived in. They asked all kinds of questions, but I didn't answer. The next day, while I lay in their bed, I heard people shouting in the square. Braska had received Valefor. He was ready to move on.

I almost expected them to come and see me, but they never did. They left me a letter, but I never read it. I did, though, look at the sphere they left me. It was snippets of my time with them; finding me on Mi'ihen, my first time in Luca, an amusing scene of me drunk on the _Winno_, Auron carrying me off of the _Winno_, me fighting the Lord Ochu in Kilika, our arrival at Besaid, the look on my face when Braska asked me to be his guardian, another amusing one of me going on a fiend massacre, and all of us standing in front of the Besaid Temple. It made me cry.

When they left and I didn't, Lulu and Wakka and Chappu didn't ask why. They just told me I was going to live with them. I think Braska asked them to. For a while, I didn't do anything. I didn't leave the hut, I didn't speak, I didn't look at anyone, and Lulu almost went mad trying to get me to eat. I felt I no longer had a reason to live; I had been abandoned by the people who I had come to see as a second family.

Then, one day, I found a new reason to live. A large blue creature, a Ronso named Kimahri, showed up in Besaid. He brought with him a little girl with one blue eye and one green. I was frightened by how small she was. I was frightened when she looked at me. I was frightened by the similarities she shared with Braska. She was Yuna. Auron had kept his promise.

When I asked Kimahri where Auron was, he just looked at me. He didn't have to speak. I knew. Auron was gone. When I realized this, I refused to cry. Instead, I looked at Yuna. She knew her father was dead, yet she didn't cry. I took strength from that. Braska defeated Sin and brought about the Calm, and Yuna grew as he had wanted her to; away from conflict.

Remember when I said I found a new reason to live? Well, it was Yuna. I guess it was how small she was that got me, but when she started crying and no one knew how to help her, my maternal instincts took over. The nuns in the Temple were upset when she took to liking my black magic tricks better than their toys. Though she lived in the Temple, she came to see me every day, and I cared for her. I became somewhat of a mother to her, and her a daughter to me.

When she got older and learned I had traveled with her father, she asked me all kinds of questions. They hurt, but I answered. It is, after all, what mothers do. It seemed like no time before Sin returned, and Yuna surprised us with something just as horrifying. She wanted to be a summoner. I think Chappu's death might have contributed to the idea, along with the stories about her father. Damn me and my mouth. I, right off, said no. Wakka and Lulu agreed with me, but they said that it was her decision. And, after living in Spira for as long as I had, I knew they were right.

Lulu was the first she asked to be her guardian. Then Wakka. Then me. Kimahri had long ago agreed to stay by her side, so he technically always had been one. It was like he was waiting for the journey to start before Sin had even returned. Lulu and Wakka agreed immediately to be guardians, as did I. As if I would let my baby fight that thing alone? Even if it was Jecht, like Auron had said, all those years ago, in the game…

When I started counting the years and months it had been since they had defeated Sin, I realized with mixed shock and anticipation that Tidus would soon be arriving, if my being in Spira hadn't changed things. I feared it had, mainly because Auron was dead here, yet alive in the game in my world. I hoped that I hadn't stopped Tidus from coming, because if he did, maybe Kimahri was wrong. Maybe Auron was still alive. Maybe I could see him again. And, maybe, this time things would go right.


	20. New Beginning?

Here it is.

Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(New Beginning?)

The moment Rayne disappeared from this world, I knew. One of those twin bond things, I guess. I rushed into her room and found the bed empty. I screamed. Mom rushed in and didn't notice a thing. When I told her what was wrong, she looked at me oddly. Said I never had a twin. That I was an only child.

I flung open the closet and found all of her clothes gone. I ran to the library and found that it wasn't a library; it was an office. Lastly, I rushed into the living room. The PlayStation was still there, the game was still inside, but the memory card was blank. It was as if someone had tried to wipe her from existence and almost succeeded. Save one thing. I remembered her.

The days turned into months, and soon college started. No one there remembered her, either. I really was the only one who remembered. For the rest of the school year, I didn't touch the PlayStation or the game. I put it in my closet and hid it. My sister was right, it was an idea thief. And it had stolen the idea and essence of my sister in just a few hours.

All of that changed, though, when Aunt Kala sent me a letter, asking me how Rayne was doing. I called her as soon as I could; making sure that Mom and Dad weren't home when I did. All I got, though, was an answering machine. But it wasn't a normal one; it was a message. A voice that wasn't Aunt Kala's, but I still vaguely recognized, telling me to play the game.

After that, I ignored the game even more. I even began to convince myself that I never had a sister, that Rayne had never been real. But that became impossible when I received another letter. It was from Aunt Kala's address, but it wasn't from Aunt Kala. The letter told me to trust the person. To play the game.

I couldn't ignore it anymore, it was driving me insane. So, as soon as both of my parents had left for a vacation, I dug out the PlayStation. I hooked it up in the living room. I put the disk and the memory card in. I looked at the letter from the stranger one more time. And I played.


End file.
